A Massive Coal Seam Found Near the Wishkah
Prospectors uncovered a 140-foot wide vein of coal just two miles from Aberdeen, potentially changing the industrial future of Grays Harbor.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
On Saturday afternoon, a miner from Franklin, while prospecting up the Wishkah, struck a vein of coal that promises to prove a rich find. The vein was struck at the foot of a large hill about two miles from the city and a quarter of a mile from the Wishkah River, and was found to be 140 feet in width and in two layers. The first layer is about six feet below the surface, six feet thick, and runs horizontally through the hill. Under this is a second layer separated from the other by three feet of sand. This second layer was bored into about three feet, but on account of the drill being too short, it was impossible to ascertain its full thickness. A move was then made to the opposite side of the hill with similar results, suggesting a vein of indefinite thickness, 140 feet wide, and at least two miles in length. The coal burns readily and gives off considerable gas. On Monday, Wessell and two friends left for Olympia to file on the land.
“It will be of inestimable benefit to Aberdeen.”
The discovery of coal defined the early industrial ambition of the Pacific Northwest, driving the expansion of railroads and towns. Today, these same hills are subject to intense scrutiny regarding the environmental legacy of such extraction and the transition away from fossil fuels.
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