Black Diamond Coal Mining Company

[1] During its years of operation as a mining company, it established three towns: Nortonville, California, Southport, Oregon, and Black Diamond, Washington.

The area around Mount Diablo was discovered to have veins of lignite coal, and several mines were opened, including the Cumberland and Black Diamond.

[6] It was named for Noah Norton, who originally opened the Black Diamond mine and built the first two houses there.

As was common at that time, lodges for several fraternal organizations were established, including International Organisation of Good Templars, Knights of Pythias, and Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

[6] The company provided the land for Rose Hill Cemetery, a Protestant burial site for miners and other residents of the area, which was later donated to Contra Costa County.

Needing a higher grade of coal to compete in the market, the company sent men north in 1880 to search for better sources.

Heavy equipment had to be brought in by pack animal, crossing the Cedar River six times from the nearest town, Renton.

[18] With the completion of the railroad line, the company closed its mines in California and began moving its miners and their families north.

[15] Eventually, several trains a day would haul coal from the mines to Seattle to be sold there or shipped to San Francisco.

To accommodate its international workers, "danger" signs were printed in Russian, Slovenian, Hungarian, Danish-Norwegian, Croatian, Spanish, Serbian, Lithuanian, Italian, Polish, Greek, Swedish, Bohemian, German, Finnish, and French.

[9] When the miners departed the area around Mount Diablo in 1884, they left behind 200 miles of coal mine tunnels.

In the mid to late 1920s, the company attempted to reopen the Clayton Tunnel in Nortonville for coal mining, but were unsuccessful.