By Spencer Range

In 2004, Illinois produced more than 31 million tons of coal. This harvest accounted for nearly 10 percent of the nation's supply and came from some of the largest coal mines in the United States. The statistics, however, are deceiving. While the tonnage of Illinois coal did indeed account for a significant portion of the national supply in 2004, it also represents an overall decline in Illinois coal production that is projected to continue for rears to come.

The dreary outlook for Illinois coal is especially sad with consideration to its own history and its significance in Illinois' history. While the history shows us why Illinois coal has played a pivotal role in the rise of Illinois as a state, it also attests to the industry's current situation, teaching us that the Illinois coal industry is one of great vulnerability and sensitivity to forces not always related to the industry itself.

The beginnings of the Illinois coal industry date to 1673, when the famous French-Canadian explorer Louis Joliet, while exploring what would become Illinois by way of the Mississippi River with Jacques Marquette, reported the presence of "charbon de terra." This discovery was not only the first reported finding of coal in Illinois, but also in North America. While early and significant, it was not until more than 130 years later that coal saw commercial use in Illinois.

It is at this time that the Illinois coal industry's reactionary nature surfaces. Through the early nineteenth century, Illinois coal was restricted commercially to areas near rivers and a few cities with short, privately owned railroads. This resulted in cities such as Belleville, Peoria, Rock Island, Braidwood, and La Salle controlling the industry.

However, it also resulted in modest production. In 1833, Illinois produced only 6,000 tons of coal (today, even with recent declines in production, this much coal can be mined in less than thirty minutes).

Several breakthroughs occurred for Illinois coal in 1837. That year, former Governor John Reynolds privately built a six-mile railroad extending from the Illinois side of the Mississippi into St. Louis. This gave some Illinois mines access to markets in St. Louis. This year also saw the approval in the Illinois legislature of an internal improvements plan, including the construction of the Northern Cross Railroad, which was to run from Quincy, through Springfield, and on to the Indiana state line. Finally, 1837 was the year Chicago was incorporated as a city. Although still in its infancy, Chicago encouraged the development of Illinois' economy and, consequently, the coal industry.

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Miners load coal cars by hand in central Illinois, circa 1920.

Illinois coal found its first catalysts in these early railroads and the city of Chicago. In 1833 the state struggled to produce 6,000 tons of coal. By 1840 it managed to mine more than 17,000 tons. By 1850, this number had ballooned to 300,000 tons.

Never men to pass up a grand opportunity in light of the successes of businessmen in Chicago and former colleagues such as John Reynolds, Illinois legislators in 1851 oversaw the initial construction of the Illinois Central Railroad. In the coming years, this railroad, running from Cairo in southern Illinois up to Chicago, would become the heart of a vast system of railroads. In a large, open state looking to expand its economy and influence there were only 111 miles of useable railroad in 1850. By 1860, however, with the Central established and with a great many other lines added to it, this number had increased to more than 3,000 miles of track. Indeed, by 1890, this number had increased to more than 10,000 miles of track spread across Illinois, creating a veritable web of tracks by which coal could be hauled.

With its production capabilities tied so closely to the railroads at this time, Illinois coal also saw great gains. By 1860, production had doubled from its 1850 mark of 300,000 to more than 700,000 tons. Production continued dramatic increases with time. The year 1870 saw 2.6 million tons of coal produced while 1880 yielded 6.1 million tons. While developing industries in areas like Chicago were influential, virtually all of this early growth can be attributed to the development of the railroads.

Growth within the Illinois coal industry continued for many years. Between 1890 and 1918 (the year the industry hit its peak), production climbed from 15.2 million tons to more than 90 million. The growth experienced during this time, however, does not owe all its thanks to the railroad system. Although of vital importance to the industry, the system of railroads alone could only promote so much growth. The industry needed another economic factor to help raise its ceiling. In Chicago, it found this factor.

A modern conveyor moves coal up the mine shaft.

By the mid-1880s, more than ten years removed from the fire that virtually destroyed the city, Chicago hit its stride as an industrial powerhouse. As a manufacturing city, many Chicago industries found a need for a "cheap, accessible, fuel." These industries, including those producing printed materials, clothing, shoes, food, heat, and a host of others, naturally turned to Illinois coal. Thus, Chicago industry, Illinois railroads and, of course, the Illinois coal industry formed a symbiotic relationship that saw many fruitful years. If one of the three did well, all did well.

This period, from around the mid-1880s to the mid-1920s, was the greatest of Illinois coal's history, but also stands as a testament to its vulnerability. Of the three links that formed the three-way industrial powerhouse, Illinois coal was the most dependent on the other two and the least likely to flourish on its own.

This weakness was exposed by the late 1920s. Throughout the

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Montgomery County miners contemplate a strike vote.

early 1920s the state consistently produced 70 to 75 million tons of coal per year. By the middle part of the decade, however, industries throughout the world, including those in Chicago, were turning to oil and natural gas to meet their energy needs. Advances in the production, refining, and handling of these resources put them in direct competition with coal. As a result, Illinois coal production slipped to less than 60 million tons in 1930. By 1931, production had fallen even further to 50 million. Soon, the Great Depression set in, making a swift, permanent rebound unlikely.

Following a decade of declines, Illinois coal production spiked for several years during World War II to meet energy demands, but found itself again stifled by competition from oil and gas by the late 1940s. When railroad locomotives began converting from coal to diesel-electric power, the industry again found itself searching for new catalysts.

Production from the latter part of the 1940s until the mid-1960s remained low, but stable at about 40 million tons per year. Then, around 1964, utility companies turned to coal to meet their energy needs. Although not the catalyst that the railroads and Chicago had once been, utility demands led to a steady period of growth for the industry that lasted until 1980, when the state produced over 62 million tons of coal. The following years saw production levels remain steadily around 60 million tons until 1993.

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The tipple and loaded coal cars at the Riverton mine in Sangamon County.

Then, Illinois coal was dealt another blow, marking the beginning of the industry's current decline.

In 1970, the federal government passed the Clean Air Act. The original intent was to identify pollutants harmful to human health and the environment and to phase leaded gasoline out of the United States by the mid-1980s. The act was successful in meeting its initiatives, but was amended in 1990. These amendments called for the reduction of sulfur dioxides (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO₂), the two main causes of acid rain, and two byproducts of high-sulfur coal when burned. The amendments were to take effect from 1991 to 1995. Companies buying or burning high sulfur coal were given three options: one, switch to low-sulfur coal, two, invest in coal "scrubbers," which reduce the sulfur content of high-sulfur coal, or three, purchase "allowances" to burn high-sulfur coal.

Peabody Coal Company's Pawnee #13 mine was one of the largest deep-shaft coal mines in the world.

As expected, none of the major Illinois power plants chose to purchase allowances, but since 1991 six of Illinois' twenty-four plants have switched entirely to low sulfur coal. These plants, which had been receiving all of their coal from Illinois mines, now have turned exclusively to coal from other states. While some plants have chosen to make use of coal "scrubbers," the cost-benefit ratio has thus far proven unfavorable compared to switching to low-sulfur coal from other states.

As previously mentioned, the Illinois coal industry produced a little over 31 million tons of coal in 2004. This number marks the thirteenth year in the industry's current period of decline and there seems no reason to believe that the trend will end soon. While it is likely that the industry will eventually settle somewhere, it is impossible to predict where that will be. History says that Illinois coal, for better or for worse, is an industry at the mercy of not only other industries, but technological advances and politics as well.

But there is hope for Illinois coal. Indeed, it is possible to argue that a return to prominence is inevitable. Coal underlies 37,000 square miles of Illinois— nearly 65 percent of the state's surface. This unmined coal contains more energy than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined. Such facts, coupled with Illinois' sponsorship of the largest coal research and development program in the United States, which may develop cheaper, more efficient ways of using coal scrubbers in order to bring high-sulfur coal to markets, seem promising. But if is consistent, the fate of the Illinois coal industry will not be decided by the industry itself. Because it is so sensitive and vulnerable to so many outside forces, it is doomed to forever be at the whim of others.

Spencer Range is senior history major at MacMurray College in Jacksonville.

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