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Centennial Souvenir Program, 1954
Nigger Hollow No. 1 has been worked out, but Nigger Hollow No. 2, now known as the Black Eagle Mine, is still working. In August 1867, Mine Operators Booth and Atchinson in an effort to sink a mine shaft near the western edge of O'Fallon struck a subter[r]anean lake and the shaft was flooded. Many years later this source was utilized as a water supply when the city established its first water distribution system. On September 20, 1918, the Penn Heirs granted a lease to Samuel Meister, representing a group of business men from Bay City, Michigan, on 80 acres to carry on mining operations. The O'Fallon Coal Company was to begin operations within one year from the date of the lease. The mine sunk by this company on East State Street was locally known as the "Tin-can Mine." This mine operated for intermittent intervals for about ten years before it was abandoned. St. Clair County coal is being used less today than it was in the past. The principal reason for the loss of consumers market seems to be the introduction of natural gas and oil from Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. On March 12, 1954, J. J. Forbes, Director of the U. S. Bureau of Mines in a report on the coal industry made the following comments: The ever-increasing trend on the part of industrial and residential consumers to depend more and more on natural gas and oil and less and less upon coal as a source of energy; coal which supplied 70 per cent of the total fuel requirements in 1926 dropped to 34 per cent in 1952; meanwhile, natural gas and oil increased their contribution from 25.8 per cent to almost 62 per cent; the dieselization of the railroads has drastically reduced the amount of coal used; that the answer to the problems of the coal industry lies in research leading toward the perfecting of new synthetic liquid fuels thus opening new markets, better marketing methods, and more efficient mining methods. The coal mines and coal miners have played an important role in the development of O'Fallon. Old King Coal, has, indeed, left his impress on O'Fallon, one which shall always remain.
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About 1900 Nigger Hollow Mines No. 1 and No. 2 were sunk west of O'Fallon on the St. Louis, Belleville, and O'Fallon Railroad. It is interesting to note several early state hoisting records established by Nigger Hollow No. 2. On March 17, 1905 the mine established a new record by hoisting 2,039 tons of coal in 71/2 hours. The coal was moved to the shaft by 16 mules and the cars were dumped on top by hand. The mine employed about 250 men at that time. Officers of the company at that time were: Edward L. Thomas, David O. Thomas, and John Taylor. On November 6, 1913 the mine established a new state record by hoisting 4,400 tons of coal in seven hours and 15 minutes.
