In late June I returned to the Jones Slope Coal Mine complex to find where the mine entrance used to be. Before I went bushwhacking into the brier patch I performed some more documenting of the hoist I had found earlier that month.
If you want to see the two previous posts around the hoist and mine entrance click on these links – Hoist Found — Mine Entrance Search
The short version is… I figured out that “The Hole” was the Fan House thanks to Black Diamond Museum Staff. From that information and with some fancy math I calculated the distance between the Fan House, the Water Tank, The Hoist and the Mine Entrance. Here are two maps that show you how that all worked.
These calculations plus help that I think was in the realm of magic or paranormal assistance lead me to find the hoist. It had been hidden under old logs for decades and I still am amazed that it revealed itself to me.
This second round of investigation was a little more scientific and marked with red yarn flags to give us perspective.
After I put the 4 flags up, I dug out the concrete curb edge to reveal more about the construction. We will not ever really know what it looks like unless all of the rotting logs are removed. Two reasons that probably won’t happen are I cannot do that by myself and second if we uncover it completely we risk it being damaged by weather but also by taggers and hooligans.
Here is the dug out piece that I measured at about 15″ wide. It also meets a corner in the cement which makes me think that it is solid from the west side to this point.
Between the SW corner and my excavation is a big spike sticking out to the curb edge. Here are two better photos than the one from my first trip.
Makes you wonder now if there is a similar one 15″ from the NW corner? Guess I have to go back and check that out.
One more photo showing more about how it all looks.
Now let us go to the videos and a good overview of this. I have to laugh at myself getting the SW, SE, NW & NE straight. I think you will get the drift from my explanation.
Now the first video where I am standing between the SW and NW corners above looking towards the SW corner.
This next photo looks towards the NE corner. This was the hardest one to flag and get to. The north side is really up in the brier and next time I go I will have to bring better tools to reach it. Maybe in the fall when the nettles and other bushes are gone.
One more video to help you get your bearings on this historic find.
This is the best kind of stuff for this investigator. It was like I had my own archaeological dig. Like I said earlier I hate to expose this too much for fear of vandalism.
My next post will be about the Jones Brothers and all the info I collected compiled into one place. Might be a week or more since I am awaiting info from Lakeview Cemetery on the location of their graves. All three brothers (Tom, Ed & Ben) are buried there. Plus I have hopes to get a photo of Ben from a couple of sources I am pursuing. Already have Tom & Ed in my effort to sort out who is who in a 1925 photo. Stay tuned.
If you want to read more about my search for lost coal mines here is a link to my directory of articles.
Shoot me any questions or better yet any information you have to add. This is a never ending deep dig into 100 year old coal mine history.
Remember Times are a changing. Blink and all will be changed.
Crows of Arroyos 