5 Forgotten Michigan Coal Towns – A Great Lakes Mining Story

Michigan’s Thumb region once had a small but vibrant coal industry in the early 1900s, centered in towns like Sebewaing, Unionville, Auburn, Akron, and St. Charles. Though Michigan coal was mostly minor compared to Appalachia, it drove local economies. In Sebewaing (Huron County), coal was discovered by Unionville well-drillers. By 1900, Sebewaing had three mines (the Whittier, Sebewaing Coal Co., and Saginaw Bay Coal Co.) employing about 100 men. Unfortunately, the coal proved too sulfurous for fuel, and mining shifted to extracting pyrite (sulfur ore) instead. In nearby Unionville, farmers later opened a mine too. By 1934, the Robert Gage Coal Company ran an underground mine there, using the Pere Marquette Railroad to ship coal out.

Video – Michigan’s Forgotten Coal Towns: A Great Lakes Mining Story

Discovery of Coal in Michigan

The Discovery of surface and shallow Michigan coal veins was a result of grist mill construction in 1835 west of Jackson Michigan. State geologist Douglas Hougton confirmed the existence of coal deposits in 1837. Over the next two decades, local residents took surface coal for personal and local use. After the Civil War, shallow mine shafts were dug all over the Jackson area.

Coal Production in Saginaw

West of Saginaw Bay, coal mining spread to Bay and Tuscola counties. Near Auburn (Bay County), the Wolverine Mine opened 1900 on the Michigan Central Railroad line. Local farmers broke ground on this 80?foot shaft that year, and by 1901, it was taken over by Handy Brothers mining. A few miles north, Akron (Tuscola County) saw its first coal shaft in 1907.

The Handy Brothers Coal Mining Co. of Bay City sank a 225-foot shaft there – the deepest in Michigan at the time – reaching a 5–6½-foot-thick coal seam. Reporters praised the coal as “equal to the best Ohio coal” and said mining conditions were “almost ideal”. The Pere Marquette Railroad laid three miles of track to Akron so miners could haul out these rich coal veins.

At the northern tip of the Michigan Basin, coal was discovered near Saginaw in the 1850s. During World War I, Michigan coal production peaked with about $7,000,000 worth of coal mined. More than 160 coal mines were concentrated in the central part of the state, known as the Michigan Basin. The area where the coal was easily accessible and concentrated was in Bay, Saginaw, Tuscola, and Genesee Counties. The coal industry started to decline after WWI. The last coal mine to operate was in Saginaw County, the Swan Creek Mine, which closed in 1952.

The Largest Mine in Michigan

The largest of the Thumb-area mines was the Garfield No. 8 Mine at St. Charles (Saginaw County). In 1917, the Robert Gage Coal Co. sank a 200-foot shaft there. Garfield No. 8 grew to employ up to 400 miners at its peak. Miners worked underground in pairs, undercutting and blasting 22–64 inches thick coal seams. They shoveled coal into mine cars pulled by mules and electric motors up the shaft, where it was sorted and loaded into rail cars. In 1919, miners earned only about 60–70 cents per ton of coal. The coal from Garfield was considered Michigan’s highest-grade bituminous coal, but rising competition and fuel switches forced its closure in 1931.

Sebewaing Mines

Russell Brothers, well-diggers based in Unionville, discovered coal in Sebewaing. By the early 1900s, Sebewaing had three coal mines in operation. The Whittier, Sebewaing Coal Company, and the Saginaw Bay Coal Company collectively employed about 100 men. Coal was brought to the surface on small mule-driven cars on wooden tracks.

Coal mining was successful for only a few years. It seems that initially, the coal was of high quality; however, as operations continued, it seems that the extracted coal contained so much sulfur that it was deemed too explosive to be used as a fuel. Thomas Whitter, a chemist from Saginaw inspected the coal vein and found it an excellent source of pyrite and comparable with the pyrite sources then being imported from Spain. Changes were made to the operation that expanded the mining capacity to 400 tons per day. Pyrite ore is an excellent material in which to make sulfur.

The mines around Sebewaing were only two of eight coal mines located in the Saginaw Bay region. The coal strikes were usually recorded by those drilling exploratory wells looking for salt brine. The veins of coal were from 3 to six feet and the deepest was found at 350 feet.

Other Coal Mines in Michigan

• Bay Coal Mining Company
• Saginaw Coal Company
• J. H. Somers Coal Company
• The Verne Mine
• Standard Mining Company
• Hampton Coal Mining Company
• Saginaw Valley Mining Co

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy still has jurisdiction over coal mining in the state. However, coal reclamation projects are limited to cases where construction projects encounter a coal seam. Abandoned mineshafts present a problem, especially in Saginaw County.

The Final Era of Coal Mines In Michigan

These coal towns left lasting marks on their communities. In Akron and Unionville, for example, the mines complemented farming, and local events like parades celebrated each town’s industrial spirit. Although the coal boom faded after World War I and the Depression, its legacy remained. By 1952, the Swan Creek Mine in Saginaw County (near St. Charles) was the last Michigan coal mine to close. Today, the ruins of tipples and faded photographs recall a forgotten chapter when Michigan’s Thumb supplied coal to its own mills and railroads.

Michigan Coal Sources Consulted

Photo Credit: Historical Society of Caseville, Lower Peninsula, 1896-1900, Volume 7, Parts 1-3, By Michigan. Geological Survey

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• Albert E Sleeper – Governor for 20th Century Michigan