Diamond (old cracker) Breaker

Diamond (old cracker) Breaker

Old Diamond Slope Breaker  Digitally Watermarked

Old Diamond Slope Breaker

Photographer/Illustrator Year Repository
Bunnell 1905 Syracuse University Library



Brief Chronology of Mining Developments

Year Month Day Comments
1851 - - John Jermyn secures contract for opening drift at Diamond Mines, first man to 'put a shovel into that important work'
1852 - - G. W. Scranton closes contract for breaker equipment with J. S. Cox of Reading (letter to President Phelps Feb. 3rd 1852)
1853 - - steam powered breaker finished and put in operation to process coal from drift workings
1853 - - contract for sinking No. 1 shaft made
1853 - - contract for sinking two slopes near original drift opening made, considerable progress on sinking by year end
1854 - - both slopes completed during year, but nearly all mine output for year actually came from old drift
1854 - - machinery for No. 1 slope ready by June, No. 2 slope by May, slopes themselves reached coal early in year (implies they began as rock slopes)
1854 - - chutes and screens built at No. 1 slope but no cracker (breaker) at this date
1854 - - breaker rolls first used in Northern Coalfield at Diamond
1855 - - Tripp slope sunk
1856 - - construction of No. 2 double shaft not pushed rapidly during year, because of 'no immediate need to do so'
1856 - - 'C' Vein opened above water level by two drifts, coal taken to 'old crackers'
1856 - - total expenditure on mine construction to end of 1856 stated to be $38,461
1856 - - start date for Diamond Shaft operations (possibly No. 1) in 'G' vein according to Mine Inspectors' Report
1856 - - work on No. 2 double shaft in progress
1857 Jun - breaker at No. 1 slope destroyed by fire (implies chutes and screens had been upgraded since 1854)
1857 - - tunnel being carried through the fault at No. 2 slope to the 'E' or Diamond Vein
1857 - - No. 2 double shaft still unfinished at year end, needed to be completed because it was the main pumping shaft for all the mine workings
1857 - - breaker rebuilt at cost of $18,613, 'not excelled by any other in the state'
1862 May - start date for Diamond Shaft operations (presumably No. 2) in 'E' and 'F' veins according to Mine Inspectors' Report
1863 Jun - newspaper report of Diamond cracker being destroyed by fire (but incorrect, it was at the shaft, see other entry)
1863 Jun 28th fire destroyed Diamond Shaft, repair cost at least $10,000;some think it was started deliberately. No breaker there, 'the coal is prepared and broken at the old Diamond breaker which is some way off'
1864 Jul - start date for No. 2 slope (new breaker?) according to Mine Inspectors' Report
1868 - - new air shaft sunk
1869 - - No. 1 and No. 2 shafts re-cribbed and tower rebuilt


Production Statistics Table

Year Current Name Tonnage Mined Tonnage Shipped Employees Days Worked Operator
1852 Diamond Mines - 65825 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1853 Diamond Mines - 69042 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1854 Diamond Mines - 99414 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1855 Diamond Mines - - - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1856 Diamond Mines - 108794 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1857 Diamond Mines - 109610 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1858 Diamond Mines - 184109 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1859 Diamond Mines - 175838 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1860 Diamond Mines - 212426 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1861 Diamond Mines - - - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1862 Diamond Mines - - - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1863 Diamond Mines - - - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1864 Diamond Mines - - - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1865 Diamond Mines - 119111 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1866 Diamond Mines - 228807 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1867 Diamond Mines - 265379 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1868 Diamond Mines - 346465 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1869 Diamond Mines - 245755 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1870 Diamond Mines - 424278 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1871 Diamond Mines - 292691 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1872 Diamond Mines - 375765 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1873 Diamond Mines - 381395 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1874 Diamond Mines - 326486 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad
1875 Diamond Mines - 332062 - - Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad