“Coal has been mined in 73 counties (out of 102) in Illinois. More than 4,500 coal mines have operated since commercial mining began in Illinois about 1810; fewer than 50 are currently active. The first recorded discovery of coal in North America was in Illinois by Marquette and Joliet. In 1673, they observed and recorded coal outcrops along the Illinois River. However, it wasn’t until the 1800s that the settlers first mined outcropped coal for blacksmithing and other domestic uses. It took a few more years for underground mining to get started, but by 1848, Belleville was home to the first underground mining operation.
“Although prior to the 1860s, some mining was done in the region south of Joliet, Ill., those early mines were primarily small operations that supplied local needs. The coal mining "boom" in the northern fields of Illinois really dates from 1864. Near the town of Braidwood, a farmer struck coal while drilling a water well. For the next 50 years, thousands of people came into Will, Grundy, and Kankakee Counties to seek their livelihood in the coal mines.
“The new coal mining industry spread along shipping routes to ease access to large commercial centers like St. Louis and Chicago. However, it wasn't until the Civil War, when Illinois railroads grew rapidly, that coal mining in Southern Illinois developed into a major industry.
“In 1909, the worst mining disaster in the state's history occurred at the Cherry Mine. The St Paul Coal Company established the mine in 1905 in the mining town of Cherry. The mine produced 300,000 tons of coal a year to power the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad. On November 13, 1909, 500 feet underground, a load of hay in the mine accidentally caught fire from a torch. The fire and the resulting poisonous gases left 259 men and boys dead, more than half of the 490 miners underground. Efforts to save the miners took the lives of 12 of the rescuers.
“In 1951, the second-worst mine disaster in the state's history took place at the New Orient Coal Mine near West Frankfort in Southern Illinois. Sparks from electrical equipment touched off a pocket of methane gas, killing 119 miners. This resulted in the federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952, updated mine safety laws, and provided for more stringent inspections of mines.”
Source: http://www.miningartifacts.org/Illinois-Mines.html
“No community in Franklin County can boast a more colorful, productive background and growth as can the City of Zeigler. As early as 1902, the area, which is now Zeigler, was nothing more than a wooded area and some prairie land. Zeigler's growth and enterprising independence is due largely to the vision and enterprise of one man - Joseph Leiter. About the year 1900, Leiter, a Chicago financier and wheat speculator, flushed with his past success, was casting about for new worlds to conquer. Leiter began buying up land in the Six-Mile Township area at $25 an acre (about $823.18 today) and acquiring mineral rights on the property of owners who would not sell surface and underlying minerals. In this manner, he acquired a tract of about eight thousand acres. In 1902, Leiter sunk Zeigler Mine No. 1 for his first coal shaft into the rich treasures below... and brought out the first of countless tons of the world's best bituminous coal. When the mine was sunk, Leiter set out to build a town to go with it. The same architect designed the town, taking Washington, D.C., as his model. The center of the town is a circle, with the streets running from it like the spokes of a wheel. Leiter also built a school, a small hospital, and other buildings. He gave the town his father's middle name, Zeigler. For a number of years, Mr. Leiter owned the town of Zeigler. It was unincorporated. He built a two-story white frame house facing the circular square, where he and his wife lived when he was at Zeigler, and he operated in baronial style.”
Source: From the Franklin County, Illinois Genealogy and History website, Zeigler Beginnings, online at http://genealogytrails.com/ill/franklin/zeigler_beginnings.html