Mining: The Heart of Westville / The Coal Mining Legacy / The Drummond Colliery Disaster / Boiler Explosion / The Moose River Gold Mine Rescue / Highlights of the Coal Legacy / The Miners Monument
Coal coming out of the Drummond
Mine
Highlights of the Coal Legacy
1865 The Great Seam was discovered by John Campbell. Soon the Acadia, Intercolonial and Black Diamond mines were operating.
It was Acadia Coal Company Jessie Hoyt who named the new village Acadia Mines replacing its former name, Garloch Road.
1866 The Black Diamond Mine was raising one box of coal at a time with a horse and windlass. The Acadia Coal Company began breaking ground.
The Acadia Mine was to operate continuously for 45 years. The first two managers were Mr. Hoyt and Henry Poole.
The Drummond Company had a shaft where the Drummond Square was later built; it was called the Campbell Pit.
1868 October 1 – the Drummond Colliery was officially opened with a ceremony held at the Masonic Hall in Pictou. The Drummond Company completed a seven-mile railway to Middle River. The Drummond pier was built in a rainbow shape. It could load five ships at one time and could handle 1,500 tons of coal per day. The pier cost $35,000 to construct.
1871 The Black Diamond commenced shipping coal on July 6.
1873 In May, the mine employees at the Drummond Mine went on strike in dispute over wages and privileges. After a week at the bargaining tables, an agreement was reached on May 13; the men returned to work. However disaster struck!
May 13 – Approximately 60 men lost their lives in an explosion at the Drummond Colliery. A shot fired in one of the low levels of the mine on the south side of the workings ignited the coal. The force of the explosion was so great that the wooden rollers were torn from the track on the slope and hurled out of the slope, falling hundreds of years in the nearby woods on the surface. The fire raged for 36 hours with flames shooting upward of 40 feet. The mine manager was James Dunn.
At this time, the Drummond slope was thought to be the deepest in this part of the world, with one engine pulling up the slope. The first engines used at the mine were the Sissy, Mary Ann, No. 3 and the Leghorn. The company built all its own cars at the mine site and this work was supervised by Henry Blair.
1875 It was in the mid-70’s that the Black Diamond ceased operations, having struck the downthrow (fault) which the Acadia and Drummond mines were able to overcome at a later date.
1884 Acadia Number 3 was opened.
1887 The Drummond Mine which had previously built a rail from the mine to Bear Brook where it joined the Intercolonial Railway had the line torn up. The old bed was used for many years as a rifle range.
1889 The Drummond Mine which was owned by the Intercolonial Coal Company of Montreal had a coal are of two square miles. Four workable seams had been identified, but only two were being worked. The mine was described as a fiery one, demanding constant attention to proper ventilation. Two Stirling water tube boilers of a capacity of 300 horse-power, working at a pressure of 120 pounds, were used. Twenty coke ovens were in use. The mine surface employed 650 men and boys; 475 were underground and 175 on the surface. The output was 22,000 tons a month.
On the old slope of Drummond
Mine
The Canadian Trade Review described Westville in this era as “the very center of the coal mining industry of Pictou County, as exemplified by the Acadia and Intercolonial coal mining companies; the combined output of those collieries exceed the sum of 500,000 tons annually.”
1890 The Nova Scotia Steel Company purchased the Black Diamond and operated the mine for quite a few years, supplying coal for the blast furnace at Ferrona Iron Works. When these iron works were moved to Sydney, the Black Diamond once again closed down.
1891 On October 22, a monument on Drummond Road was erected in memory of the miners who lost their lives in the 1873 explosion.
1894 November 20 – The Acadia Mine had a fire on the bankhead, causing the destruction of the boiler shed and the engine house. The mine had remained disaster-free until 1894.
1902 The Drummond Mine had its own shipping pier built under the direction of manager Charles Fergie at Abercrombie, at a cost of $50,000.
Drummond Bank Head, Westville
1907 One thousand miners at the Drummond hoisted 307,844 tons for the year.
1910 The Drummond slope was one of the longest in the world with a continuous haul. The slope was 9,200 feet long in 1910. The company employed 1,000 men; 700 below the surface, 300 above. The largest number of tons hoisted in one year was 413,000 in 1910. The wage for a ten-hour day of labor as a miner was $1 for men and 50˘ for boys. Boys often entered the workforce at age 10 or 11.
1915 The Drummond Mine, which had become the backbone of the town’s economy, was operated by the Intercolonial Coal Mining Company Limited of Montreal. The mine got its name from Sir George Drummond who was the first president of the company.
Three mines known as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 were in operation, employing approximately 750 men and boys.
Drummond Bank Head, Westville
The passing scene on Main
Street; Acadia Mine in the background
The coke-making plant remained dominant, but the clay-working plant was able to produce 100,000 excellent fire bricks per month and a large quantity of ground fire clay for a ready market.
At one time, four women worked in the brick plant: Edith (Haslam) MacNaughton (began working at the plant at age 14), Mildred (Haslam) MacNaughton, Amelia Kelly and Mamie Jones, Edith MacNaughton worked 10-hour shifts, receiving $2.11 per day.
1917 Acadia No. 2 was opened in April, finishing on October 25, 1923.
Acadia No. 4 was purchased in November 1920, and closed on March 11, 1921.
1919 Acadia No. 1 was opened, finished in October 1924.
1920 Acadia No. 5 was opened in September, and closed on February 26, 1921.
Acadia No. 6 was purchased in November, and closed on March 2. 1921
Acadia No. 7 was opened in October, and closed in November 1921.
1936 Westville miners gave distinguished service at the Moose River mining disaster.
1945 The Old Acadia Mine closed with over 100 jobs lost.
The mines had long passed their days of full production and mining was gradually being phased out.
1953 The Intercolonial Mine ceased operation, leaving 380 men without an employer.
A native son of Westville, Henry R. Thompson, took over control of the defunct Intercolonial operations and, under the name of the Drummond Coal Company Limited, mining continued to be a reality in the town. However, all over the county, mines were being closed as coal gave way to other fuels as the main source of energy.
Bootleg Coal Pits