1887 Nanaimo mine explosion

{{Short description|1887 mine explosion in British Columbia}}

The Nanaimo mine explosion occurred on May 3, 1887, in Nanaimo, British Columbia killing 150 miners. Only seven miners survived and the mine burned for one full day.

Image:Nanaimo explosion mem 1.jpg

The explosion started deep underground in the Number One Coal Mine after explosives were laid improperly. Although many miners died instantly, others were trapped by the explosion and the fires that followed.{{cite web |last1=Beitler |first1=Stu |title=Nanaimo, BC Mine Explosion Disaster, May 1887 |url=http://www.gendisasters.com/british-columbia/8852/nanaimo-bc-mine-explosion-disaster-may-1887 |website=GenDisasters |accessdate=8 December 2019 |archive-date=5 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505095936/http://www.gendisasters.com/british-columbia/8852/nanaimo-bc-mine-explosion-disaster-may-1887 |url-status=dead }} Most miners did not die from the primary explosions or the fires, but many actually died from choking on poisonous gas hours after the initial explosions.{{cite web |last1=Bellaart |first1=Darrell |title=Worst mining disaster in B.C. history took place 125 years ago today in Nanaimo CoalWatch |url=http://www.coalwatch.ca/worst-mining-disaster-bc-history-took-place-125-years-ago-today-nanaimo |website=Coal Watch |accessdate=8 December 2019 |archive-date=8 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208020910/http://www.coalwatch.ca/worst-mining-disaster-bc-history-took-place-125-years-ago-today-nanaimo |url-status=dead }} These men wrote farewell messages in the dust of their shovels. Nearly 150 children lost their fathers and 46 women became widows.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mala.bc.ca/history/Content/widow.htm |title=Vancouver Island University, Benton Family History |access-date=2005-01-02 |archive-date=2012-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206212320/http://www.mala.bc.ca/history/Content/widow.htm |url-status=dead }} Most of the men were settlers from Cornwall, Wales and Yorkshire.{{cite news |title=Cornishmen Killed Among 176 Who Perished in the Nanaimo Mine, British Columbia |work=The Cornishman |issue=461 |date=12 May 1887 |page=8}} A plaque at the foot of Milton Street commemorates the event.

Although past documents put the death toll at 148, researchers have since revised the number to 150, including 53 Chinese workers. Chinese workers were listed in the government inquest and annual report of the Minister of Mines as "Chinamen, names unknown", followed by a tag number. B.C. employers did not have to report the deaths of Chinese employees until 1897. Some accounts suggest that 48 of the 53 miners had the surname of Mah — records may have been destroyed when Nanaimo's Chinatown burned to the ground in 1960.{{Cite web |url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/llt/48/11carnet.html |title=History Cooperative |access-date=2005-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021101150532/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/llt/48/11carnet.html |archive-date=2002-11-01 |url-status=dead }} The monument on Milton Street lists the names of white miners, but only the tally number for Chinese miners, who were blamed by many white Nanaimoites for the disaster, claiming they could not read signs or instructions.{{failed verification|reason=The Roger Stonebanks article, if that's the intended source, does an extremely poor job of attributing this sentiment; on Wikipedia he would be flagged {who?}; his allusive tone barely makes the standard of a good source; he certainly doesn't pin this down to white Nanaimoites.|date=June 2023}}{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}{{dubious|Dubious blame|date=June 2023}}

Operated by the Vancouver Coal Company, the Number One mine opened in 1884 at the foot of Milton Street in Nanaimo. Its shafts and tunnels extended under the Nanaimo Harbour to Protection Island, Newcastle Island, and the Nanaimo River. After the explosion, the mine re-opened and produced 18 million tons of coal before permanently closing in 1938.