The Coal Creek mine was the first electrified operation in Newcastle where electric haulage motors moved coal cars within and outside the mine as seen in this photo taken shortly after 1900. Called the Bagley Tunnel for the seam of coal being mined, the water level entrance can be seen to the back of the line of coal cars pulled by an electric locomotive. At the end of this particular shift, a photographer captured 47 mine workers, one mine dog, and a string of 30 coal cars destined for the bunkers for storage until transport to market. A close study of the photo reveals some interesting realities about coal mining at the turn of the 20th century. The two structures in the upper left are topped with barrels filled with water. Since firefighting equipment was primitive and water pressure low, buildings were protected by placing water barrels on roofs for ready use in case of fire. The stacks of lumber piled near the mine entrance speak to the voracious uses of timber, posts, beams, and lagging to shore up mine tunnels hundreds of feet underground. Miner also used milled wood as chutes for loading coal, and as barriers, called stoppings to control air flow.
The Newcastle coal field was one of the most important in King County particularly after the railroad arrived in 1878, replacing an earlier Lake Washington route which saw coal handled 11 times between the mine and Seattle waterfront. With more efficient rail transportation, coal production increased to over 100,000 tons per year. Following the Oregon Improvement Company’s failure, the Pacific Coast Coal Company took over operations in 1897 and expanded production again. This water level entrance to the Bagley seam at Coal Creek was opened in 1898 and flourished until 1912 when a newer mine, the Ford Slope transcended its daily production. The Ford Slope produced coal until 1926. A new mine called the Primrose opened the following year but closed two years later marking the end of major mining in the area. Nonetheless, between 1876 and 1929 the Newcastle and Coal Creek mines saw cumulative production of 8.8 million tons, averaging nearly 164,000 tons annually. This photo appeared on page 61 of the “Coals of Newcastle” by Richard and Lucile McDonald. This copy comes courtesy of the Newcastle Historical Society with special thanks to Eva Lundahl who obtained an original from Bonnie Rouse, a descendant of Thomas Rouse, one of Newcastle’s early pioneers.
