Vulcan Mine

Looking east up the Colorado River you can view the remnants of the Vulcan coal mine. In the 1890s, a small community called Vulcan City cropped up below the mine, near the river. The community consisted mainly of homes and tenement quarters. Miners and their families had to make the two mile commute, using the Roderick Ferry across the Colorado River, to New Castle for their amenities. The barren scar that runs across the Grand Hogback behind you represents the end of the Vulcan Mine. That lifeless area is caused by a fire that sill burns inside the mountain that once produced some of the finest coal in the state. Three deadly mine explosions are responsible for igniting the coal vein. The explosions occurred in 1896, 1913, and 1918. A total of 89 men’s lives came to a violent end when methane explosions occurred in the Vulcan Mine.”