Darr Mine Disaster
Posted by: 
Kordite
N 40° 09.271 W 079° 45.337
17T E 605981 N 4445649
Marker at Olive Branch Cemetery, Pa. 981 between Pa. 51 and Smithton
Waymark Code: WM1GT9
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 05/06/2007
Views: 139
The marker reads: "On Dec. 19, 1907, an explosion killed 239 men and boys, many Hungarian immigrants, in Darr coal mine near Van Meter. Some were from the closed Naomi mine, near Fayette City, which exploded on Dec. 1, killing 34. Over 3000 miners died in Dec. 1907, the worst month in U.S. coal mining history. In Olive Branch Cemetery, 71 Darr miners, 49 unknown, are buried in a common grave."
By 1910 the mine reopened as a secondary entrance for Banning #3 mine which is located just down stream from Darr Mine. The mine stayed open until 1919, when the vain started to dry up.
Marker Name: Darr Mine Disaster
County: Westmoreland
Date Dedicated: 09/14/1994
Marker Type: Roadside
Location: Olive Branch Cemetery, Pa. 981 between Pa. 51 and Smithton
Category: Labor, Ethnic & Immigration, Business & Industry
Website: [Web Link]
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