On August 30, 1892, three six-foot veins of coal were found in the mine 570 feet (170 m) below the Earth's surface and were sold in the market a few days later.
The mine also introduced plans to have steel fiber cables installed so they could lift eleven tons (22,000 lb) of coal at once.
People from the town began to gather outside the mine because they knew that the whistle meant that something went wrong at the work site.
It was later discovered in a state investigation published February 1, 1933, by the Moweaqua News that the disaster was caused by the open flame of a miner's carbide lamp which ignited the methane gas and prompted the explosion.
Specially trained rescue miners from Pana and Springfield arrived to help control the situation and retrieve bodies from the mine.
The Illinois Central Railroad brought in cars to give the rescue miners a place to sleep and food to eat.
The American Red Cross, the Moweaqua Hospital and people in the town also helped provide meals for the workers.
The tipple was mostly torn down by June 1940, and the remaining pieces of the structure blew over due to harsh winds and ruined the engine room five months later.
It houses a number of artifacts and documents, including tools, newspaper clippings and photographs, and coal specimens from the mine.