May 3, 1887: #1 Esplanade Mine disaster

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Number One Esplanade pithead after explosion, May 3, 1887. ( NANAIMO AND DISTRICT CENTENNIAL MUSEUM)

Taken from Three Dollar Dreams, by Lynne Bowen.

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Taken from Three Dollar Dreams, by Lynne Bowen.

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William McGregor (1855-98); manager Number One Esplanade Mine. (MCGREGOR FAMILY COLLECTION)

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[Nostradama]

Thanks for posting all this information. Very interesting. I remember a friend telling me that an uncle of his worked in the mine that ran under the seabed towards Protection, who'd told him that when a ship was moving through the harbour, they could hear the sound of it down in the mine shaft. I remember one old air shaft that still existed in the 1980s. Unfortunately, it was bulldozed in by the property owner of the time, but was quite close to the southern end of Colvilleton Trail.

Every time I check this thread I think of those thirty-three miners trapped in Chile. First they were all believed to be dead. Then discovered all alive. Then the story was that it would be about Christmas by the time they'd be able to get them out. Now they're saying that a new high-speed drill might have them out in two months. Everyone seems to be pitching in to help. They're able to communicate via videophone with their families. NASA is flying experts down to give advice on how the trapped miners can deal with living in very cramped quarters with other people for a long period of time. NASA's had a lot of experience with astronauts doing the same thing. Good luck to Chile's miners.

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So here's a look at the locomotive San Francisco which worked out of No.1 Esplanade Mine for a number of years. The photo is taken from Vancouver Island Railroads, by Robert D. Turner. In this particular book it is stated that "the locomotive San Francisco was purchased new from Baldwin in 1896 for operation at the Nanaimo Colliery."

HOWEVER, Lynne Bowen mentioned in her novel Three Dollar Dreams, and the photo is posted in this thread, that the San Francisco was hauling coal from the No.1 Esplanade Mine in 1891. Huh?

So this has always been a problem when doing historical research because dates are very, very important. I don't know which dates are the correct ones, I really don't know. If somebody does, please post otherwise I will find out at a later date.

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And yet another view of the mine :P

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More Nanaimo news...

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Well photos of the May 3, 1887 aftermath are few by far but I managed to find another one. This one shows a crowd gathering at the pithead of No.1 Coal Mine shortly after the disaster.