It supplied the bulk of the coal used in the iron and steel making taking place in the city, producing an average of 3,000 tons a day in 1902, and primarily employed recent immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe.
On Thursday, July 10, 1902, at approximately 11:00 a.m., a powerful explosion occurred in the Klondike section of the mine, and ultimately 112 miners, 84 of whom were immigrants from England, Poland and Slovakia, lost their lives.
The explosion was attributed to what miners refer to as firedamp, a methane gas mixture.
The mine was re-opened on Monday, July 14, but the disaster devastated the immigrant community in Johnstown and provoked calls for investigations and greater safety measures from public officials and even foreign governments.
[2] One of the original entrances to the Rolling Mill Mine can still be seen on the James Wolfe Sculpture Trail, which runs down Yoder (Westmont) Hill near the incline and directly across from the Point Stadium.