January 13, 2007
These pictures were sent to me by Joseph Skawinski. They are scans of old photos of the Dorrance Colliery in Wilkes-Barre. I remember passing it and seeing it from the Kingston side of the river when I would go shopping with my mother.
My friends used to climb what they thought was a railroad signal. They would got to the top and then rock it back and forth. Joe tells me it was a flood light tower used to light up the operation. This was so no one fell into the wash pond.
When they demolished it, they used too much explosives and a large chunk of metal landed in the courthouse parking lot several blocks away.
I have been in the fan house and recall the hoist house were the shaft was. I threw a rock in it and it took a long time before it hit water at the bottom.
Thanks for the pictures, Joe.
