Vast Coal Seams Found Beneath South Tacoma
Drilling for water reveals a significant, potentially commercial coal deposit within city limits.
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.
The Imperial building subways projected by A. P. Gillies are small affairs compared to the subways that will be cut under Tacoma if conditions under the city are what is indicated by the discoveries of the well drillers at South Tacoma, for the city is apparently over vast fields of coal ready to be mined. When the Times announced last week that coal had been struck, citizens thought it was a joke and some even suggested that boys had thrown pieces of coal down the hole when workmen were away, but the drillers are still in the coal deposit. Several buckets full of coal of good quality have been taken out of the hole and up to this morning the drill had gone through over 7 feet of solid coal. How much thicker the vein is no one knows until it is cut through. But seven feet is enough for a valuable mine and it is only 208 feet from the surface of the ground and is right in the city limits. Investigation will be made further of the coal deposit and a great mining industry may be developed right in the city.
“Several buckets full of coal of good quality have been taken out of the hole and up to this morning the drill had gone through over 7 feet of solid coal.”
This discovery highlights Tacoma's industrial origins, when the promise of underground resources drove urban development. Today, Tacoma's geological legacy is largely managed through environmental cleanup of former industrial sites rather than active mining.
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