Darr Mine

Pennsylvania · United States · Mine

On 19 December 1907, 239 men died here in one of the worst mining disasters in American history. Most of them had come from eastern Europe.

The Darr Mine at Van Meter, Pennsylvania was the site of one of the worst mining disasters in the history of the United States. On 19 December 1907 an explosion killed 239 men.

December 1907 was the deadliest month American mining has ever had. Darr came seventeen days after Monongah in West Virginia, where over 350 died. Together they killed more than three thousand men across the country that year, and they are the reason the federal Bureau of Mines exists.

Most of the men at Darr were immigrants, largely Hungarian and Slovak, and many are buried together in a single plot at Olive Branch Cemetery because there was nobody to claim them.

What is heard at the site at night is men's voices, arguing, in a language the listeners cannot follow.

The mine is long closed. The mass grave can be visited and is marked.

FAQ

Where is Darr Mine located?

Darr Mine is in Pennsylvania, United States.