Toluca Coal Mine Preservation Association Living History Day set for June 9, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - Posted 7:07:05 PM by Terri Taylor
The Toluca Coal Mine Preservation Association is sponsoring their first annual Living History Day at the Toluca Jumbo’s and everyone is welcomed to spend the day. The admission is free and the exhibits and presentations will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 9, 2007. There will be much to do and see on this day for all ages, young and old alike. There will be black powder shooters, blacksmiths, bobbin lace maker, campfire cooking, candle making, corn husk doll making, French Indian long rifles, French trapper for the era of the 1700 to 1750 period, Kettle Corn, Mushroom cooking, natural dyes, petting zoo, pottery painters, soap making, weavers with antique spinners, loom, drop spindle, wood carvers, wood turners, fossil exhibit, open fire cooking and Tommie hawk lessons with many other exhibits.
The Coal Mine Preservation Association will also be awarding certificates to anyone that climbs the jumbo. There will be plenty of opportunities to purchase food at various places in town or enjoy a picnic lunch at the Jumbo or next to the pond under a shady tree. There also will be a raffle for hand made items and copies of the History of Toluca wil be for sale.
This will be the 1st of its kind in this area and we are hoping that each year it will continue to grow to be the biggest in this area on what will be called “Living History Day”. Where the old can remember and reminisce and the young can learn about there past first hand by presentations, exhibits, and by listening to the wonderful memories of the past.
Below is a history of the Toluca Coal Mine.
History of Toluca Coal Mine
In 1892 Charles J. Devlin was managing the Spring Valley Coal Mines and decided to look at Toluca for starting a coal mine. He did find out that Toluca could be a good source of coal and in 1893 the Santa Fe Railroad authorized Charles Devlin, their manager of mining properties, to purchase the mineral rights here to 11,000 acres. The Devlin Coal Company sank two shafts and began producing coal using the longwall method, extracting coal from a seam as work progressed along a continuous working face. At its peak in 1905, 771 workers produced 379,000 tons of coal. The mine attracted hundreds of immigrants, especially Italians. Toluca boomed until the mine closed in 1924. Unable to compete with mines that produced coal at greater efficiency, these two slag heaps, “The Jumbos” are memorials to the region’s coal industry and its workers.
These two slap heaps which the citizens of Toluca fondly and proudly call the The Jumbo’s have been historic markers for Toluca and their history. The Jumbo’s have been a form of entertainment for all the young children through the years by sledding, walking or riding at the Jumbo’s. As time goes by Mother Nature started to take its toll on the Jumbo’s by erosion and even the threat of the Jumbo’s being taken down scoop by scoop to help fill in the roads for highways. The citizens of Toluca did not want to lose its Jumbo’s; they didn’t want to see our heritage be removed.
In the fall of 1993 the owner of The Jumbo’s approached a local resident and wanted to see if the board would purchase the Jumbo’s and possibly develop the area into a park area. The Board at this time rejected the idea but was later purchased. In the fall of 1996 a local resident began to gather signatures against using the Jumbo’s for fill. This generated much attention state wide and a resolution seemed to be near. In March of 1997 the first meeting was held and the group gave themselves the name Toluca Coal Mine Preservation & Development, Inc and officers were elected and this organization was incorporated on June 19, 1997. In 1998 the Jumbo Committee had meetings with the city council and the Toluca Sportsman’s club to explore the possibility of getting a grant to get things under way. In January 1999 a grant project was available at no cost to the taxpayers and the citizens of Toluca could reclaim the old mine site and its heritage and preserve as much of the eroding Jumbo as possible. In 2000 the city council signed all papers with the Department of Mines to reclaim the site and started proceedings on a Ecology Grant which would keep the project funded in the future. The Jumbo has been covered with dirt and grass to stop the erosion, a fishing pond has been added, which is stocked and the Coal Mine Association hosts an annual fishing derby, trees have been planted, trials added, picnic tables, bluebird houses and many types of prairie grass and wildflowers added to restore the natural beauty for which was once there.
There are still many projects the Association is working on with many different organizations, city council and citizens of Toluca. They have even started a series of books entitled “History of Toluca”, which are 600 pages and the 3rd book was just released which only goes to 1940.
Anyone who has questions can call Terri Taylor, 815-452-2032 or cell 815-326-1179 or by email
tntimages@mchsi.com.
|
|