Oriole is a place located in
Hopkins County,
Kentucky, United States. The origin of the name Oriole is unknown, and the place never had a post-office. Oriole is located four miles south-west of Madisonville, on Clear Creek.[2]
Oriole was home to the Oriole mine owned by the Bell and Zoller Coal and Mining Company.[6] The roof of the mine was very weak shale.[7] Roof bolting to secure the slate roof of the mine began in 1950.[8] In 1952 a man was killed at the mine in a slate-fall.[9] In 1954 a
loader-operator was badly burned in a methane explosion at the mine.[10] The output of the mine in 1959 was 747,313 tons of coal, making it one of the top ten coal-producing mines in Hopkins county.[11] In April 1966 the mine was the site of an unsanctioned walk-out by workers striking in protest at the failure of the mine-owners to negotiate a new contract.[12][13] In early August 1966 another strike began at the mine over seniority rights.[14] Talks were held in Madisonville to resolve the strike.[15] In 1967 the mine was the site of a major fire that began when a cable short-circuited in a bore-hole.[16]
The mine was active through the 1950s[8] and 1960s but closed in the early 1970s. In 2012 the Kentucky Division of Abandoned Mine Lands began planning the redevelopment of the former site of the mine.[17]
^Natcher, William H. (1 June 1960).
Coalfield's output hits record 29,401,573. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the US Congress. pp. A4651–A4652. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
^"Soft-Coal Mines Closed By Strike"(PDF). Manchester Evening Herald. 11 April 1966. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 8 November 2020. Nb. - the piece say Madisonville W. Va but this is clearly incorrect as there is no Oriole mine there
^"ORIOLE MINE". Ky.gov An Official Website of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Commonwealth of Kentucky Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. Retrieved 8 November 2020.