Pittsburg is located approximately in the middle of the Wier-Pittsburg Coalfield in Southeast Kansas. Starting in Pittsburg, the route of the bus tour was first toward West Mineral in the southwestern part of the field and then headed north to the towns of Franklin and Frontenac before returning to Pittsburg. The tour visited the Pittsburg Miners Memorial last, but we have included it in Photo Gallery 1 because it provides an excellent overview of the coalfield and the many mine sites, coal camps, and reclamation sites.

Pittsburg Miners Memorials

Craig Kreman, of the Quapaw Environmental Office, gives a presentation on

(Above) Miners’ Memorial in downtown Pittsburg, Kansas.

(Right) The centerpiece of the memorial is the sculpture of a solitary miner “Walking Home from the Coal Mine.”

(Above) Tour Leader, Larry Spahn, explains the map of the Weir-Pittsburg Coalfield. Click Here for a closeup of the map.

 (Left) Panels surrounding the memorial contain the names of persons who worked in the coal mines.

This sign describes the transition from small-scale mines to large underground mines and finally to surface strip mines using draglines and stripping shovels. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Miner Mike was reminded of a mining engineering surveying class in a thin, 27” coal seam such as those shown at the left.  It convinced him that hard rock mining was the better career choice for a 6-footer like him.  You could stand upright.

(Above) This mass grave in the Highland Park Cemetery, Pittsburg, Kansas, is the final resting place for several miners killed in the 1888 Frontenac Mine Disaster.

(left) Driving through the town of Pittsburg, this street sign reminds us that it once had several coal-fired smelters that processed the lead-zinc ores from the Tri-State Mining District.