by Lauren McMillen WDTV-TV

It's been 107 years since our nation's worst coal mining disaster took the lives of more than 300 hundred people and it happened right in our own backyard.

"My wife's grandfather was killed in the mine disaster," said Joe Eates, Monongah resident.

 

Joe Eates

"I never had the privilege of knowing him, but how wonderful to remember him this way and all of the other miners," said Ann Eates, Monongah resident.

It was December 6, 1907 at exactly 10:20 in the morning when tragedy unfolded. Wives would become widows, families would be broken, and the small town of Monongah would be forever changed.

Ann DeMary Eates

The explosion in mines #6 and #8 took the lives of men not just here, but from around the world.

"People do not realize that there were seven or eight different countries that were involved besides the people here in the states that got killed in this mine," said Bill Davis, Monongah resident.

Here in the Mountain State, coal mining isn't just a career, it's a lifestyle passed down from generation to generation.

"My dad was a coal miner, my uncle was a coal miner, my brother-in-law is a coal miner, my father-in-law is a coal miner," said Davis.

To keep the legacy of all 362 miners alive, the community is coming together to remember their hard work and sacrifices. A memorial has been built, but many are hoping for more to help keep the stories of both miners past and present from fading away.

"It is my hope that this community will build a museum for the miners, long overdue," said Joe D' Andrea, historian and author of “Monongah: 100 Years of Oblivion.”

Although the Monongah Mine Disaster was the deadliest, coal country has come a long way since. Many rules and regulations are now put into place for modern day miners.

Officials say there are still improvements to be made every day for those who work underground.

The official death toll was 362, but no records were kept of who went into the mines, and fathers often took their sons in with them. The late Father Everett Briggs and the gravediggers put the estimate at more than 500 dead.

It’s still America’s worse coal mine tragedy.