Fraterville Miners' Circle | |
 Fraterville Miners' Circle | |
| Location | Leach Cemetery Lane Rocky Top, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| NRHP reference No. | 04001459 |
| Added to NRHP | January 5, 2005 |
The Fraterville Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion that occurred on May 19, 1902 near the community of Fraterville in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Official records state that 216 miners died as a result of the explosion, from either its initial blast or from the after-effects, making it the worst mining disaster in the United States' history, and remains the worst disaster in the history of Tennessee.[1] However, locals claim that the true number of deaths is greater than this because many miners were unregistered and multiple bodies were not identified.[2] The cause of the explosion (although never fully determined) was likely ignition of methane gas which had built up after leaking from an adjacent unventilated mine.[3][4]
Shortly after the disaster, the bodies of 89 of the 216 miners killed in the explosion were buried in what became known as the Fraterville Miners' Circle at Leach Cemetery in the nearby town of Coal Creek (modern Rocky Top). In 2005, this circle was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
- ^ "Fraterville Mine Disaster: 120 Years Later | Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)". www.msha.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
- ^ Crawood, Chris (May 15, 2002). "Disaster in Anderson County: Sunday marks 100th anniversary of Fraterville Mine Explosion". The Oak Ridger – via NewsBank.
- ^ Allen Coggins, Fraterville Mine Disaster. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 5 May 2009.
- ^ Coal Creek Watershed Foundation, Coal Creek: War and Disasters. 2000-2009. Retrieved: 5 May 2009.