Saline C: Harrisburg, IL: Strip Coal Mine

(Satellite, many of the lakes on either side of Pankeyville were made by strip mining)

Roger Kujawa posted
J66/ Harrisburg Illinois Postcard c1920 Strip Coal Mine Steam Shovel 327

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's post

This one was a challenge because there were a lot of coal mines near Harrisburg, IL. I quickly found Sahara #6. But it didn't open until 1951.

https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/2023/06/saline-c-harrisburg-il-sahara-coal-mine.html

I searched the entire directory for strip mines. Most of them were opened in the 1950s or later. I found five mines that opened before WWII. Because of the dates, size and proximity to Harrisburg, I think this was Harrisburg #8, which mined the Springfield Seam between 1927-30 and has index 3294. The strip mine to the east of this one, with index 3286, was mined 1936-47; and it is another possibility. (Green is strip mines and pink is underground mines.)

There wasn't a tipple marked for these mines. But I found that was typical for the older strip mines. I presume that they hauled their output to one of the numerous nearby tipples for underground mines.