Doomed home in Ohio   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: Caption reads: "This home is doomed! Ohio would have thousands of deserted homes like this one if the WPA workers did not isolate the New Straitsville Mine Fire. This deserted little cottage is mute testimony to the malignancy of the fire. The owner, Mrs. Elizabeth Green, 75 year -old widow, fled from her home of 20 years when carbon dioxide or "black damp" filtered in through fissures in her cellar. The fire is raging under her home and it is in danger of sinking into the ground at any time." The fire was started in 1884 when striking miners pushed burning coal cars into a mine owned by New Straitsville Mining Company, setting the mine on fire. It is still burning today. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B10F12_002_001
Subjects: Mine fires; Black damp; Coal mining
Places: Perry County (Ohio)