On November 13, 1909, the electricity was out in the Saint Paul Coal Company’s mine in Cherry, Illinois, 100 miles southwest of Chicago, so nearly 500 men and boys were working by the light of candles and kerosene lamps. Around 1:30 PM a coal car carrying hay to mules in an underground stable stopped under one of the lamps, and the hay ignited. Some of the workers were able to get out of the mine before the escape shaft burned; others were rescued through the main shaft before the mine was sealed off to extinguish the flames. But scores of people were trapped.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
A total of 259 men and boys, including 12 rescuers, had died in the fire. It was one of the deadliest coal-mining disasters in U.S. history, and it prompted the state legislature to pass laws requiring mine owners to keep firefighting equipment in their mines and provide compensation when workers were injured or killed.
