Avondale Breaker

Avondale Breaker

Avondale Breaker  Digitally Watermarked

Avondale Breaker

Photographer/Illustrator Year Repository
Beckwith 1873 F.C. Petrillo Collection

Additional Photographs/Illustrations are listed below :

Year (if known) Description
1869 The Avondale Colliery Disaster - Ruins of the Coal Breaker
1869 The Avondale Colliery Disaster - The Heap of Bodies first found behind an Extemporized Barricade
1869 The Avondale Colliery Disaster - Bringing Bodies out of the Tunnel
1869 The Avondale Colliery Disaster - Reviving Miners after their Explorations
1905 Partial Demolition of the Second Breaker prior to Rebuilding May 6th 1905
1905 A Later Stage in Partial Demolition of the Second Breaker prior to Rebuilding June 23rd 1905
1905 Second Rebuilt Avondale Breaker

View All Photographs/Illustrations in Chronological Order


Brief Chronology of Mining Developments

Year Month Day Comments
1866 Sep - work started on shaft
1867 Aug 22nd first day mine operated
1868 May 6th regular shipments began
1869 Sep 6th disastrous breaker fire
1869 Sep 6th 110 men and boys lost their lives as a result of the breaker fire
1869 - - start of breaker rebuilding after fire
1870 Apr 2nd coal run through Avondale breaker for the first time after the fire, regular work resumed shortly afterwards
1871 Nov - a man afflicted with smallpox who lived near the Grand Tunnel, made a deathbed confession claiming the disaster was not an accident because he was one of six arsonists who 'fired' the breaker
1897 Mar - squeeze and flood
1897 Dec - boiler explosion
1900 May 21st fire discovered in adjacent old Jersey mine workings. Fire raged for five years, cost $178,925 to extinguish
1902 Mar 1st colliery flooded when high water on the Susquehanna entered the workings at the outcrop on the mountainside. Cost nearly $40,000 to reclaim the pumps inundated at that time.
1905 - - major modifications to breaker made


Production Statistics Table

Year Current Name Tonnage Mined Tonnage Shipped Employees Days Worked Operator
1875 Avondale 155875 - 309 - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1876 Avondale Colliery 120605 - 317 194 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1878 Avondale 188022 188022 388 245.5 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1879 Avondale 188512 - 347 266 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1880 Avondale 133188 - 344 182 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1881 Avondale 168991 - 367 230.25 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1882 Avondale 187119 - 376 221.7 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1883 Avondale 171467 - 409 222.1 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1884 Avondale 167663 - 420 181.3 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1885 Avondale 151191 - 450 181.6 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1886 Avondale 172011 128830 420 188 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1887 Avondale Shaft 172590 166169 455 201 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1888 Avondale 191502 184452 446 226.1 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1889 Avondale 121895 115499 442 133.2 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1890 Avondale 167049 146310 509 179 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1891 Avondale 178687 157910 504 169.4 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1892 Avondale 192502 171502 496 177.2 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1893 Avondale 177540 156774 451 175.8 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1894 Avondale 140492 119337 464 171.3 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1895 Avondale 133028 111741 442 182.9 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1896 Avondale 138403 117215 450 175 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1897 Avondale 84959 43141 405 79 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1898 Avondale 155669 117777 482 186.6 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1899 Avondale 169494 136028 473 191.3 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1900 Avondale 189393 153692 469 178.8 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1901 Avondale 213572 181070 528 218.1 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1902 Avondale 85836 49073 537 73.5 Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad