Location: Wolverine Mine, Auburn, MI

Began → Wolverine Coal Mine → Became

Operated for:

From: 1900

Location: On the MC Midland Branch, about two miles east of Auburn.

Owned by: Individual farmers initially, then Handy Brothers.

Produced: Coal

Method: Underground

Railroad connection: MC and PM

Until: 

Lifetime Production: 

Source:  This was identified in a 1912 MC station list.

Image Info: A 1911 postcard view of the coal mine at Auburn. This is likely the Wolverine Coal mine but not confirmed.

Notes

Time Line

1900. The Wolverine coal mine in Williams Township west of Bay City in Bay County is owned and operated by farmers, and has reached the vein of coal, and Sunday the opening of the mine will be celebrated. There will be music, dancing and refreshments. [DFP-1900-0712]

1901. May 16. Sheriff Kinney was called to the Wolverine coal mine this morning to investigate an attempted murder. He found a miner laid up at a hotel with a badly cut head and a story about how it happened. The miner had some trouble with his wife and he laid down to go to sleep. The next he knew, he found blook running down his face after he work up. He said his wife had struck him with a hatchet. The officer directed him to come to the city to procure a warrant for his wife, but he at first declined, saying she would surely kill him after she had served her time in jail. [DFP-1901-0517]

1901. July 24. Coal Mine Changes Hands. The Wolverine coal mine, opened by farmers in the township of Monitor, has been purchased by Handy Brothers, who own a mine near Wenona Beach. Handy Bros. have also secured leases of coal land near the Wolverine mine and will now reach the land by using the Wolverine shaft. [DFP-1901-0724]

1903. March 12. Hiding in a Mine. A man wanted in Saginaw for an alleged assault upon a young girl is reported to be hiding in the Wolverine coal mine and has been there for three days. Officers are on guard at the shaft opening with the expectation that he may be forced to come to the surface, but it is said that some acquaintances are providing him with food and that he will remain in the mine indefinitely. The officers feel that were they to enter the mine it would be next to impossible for them to arrest him, as some experience in that line has already convinced them it is an undesirable place to carry on a man-hunt. [DFP-1903-0312]

1903. April 7. Third Shaft to a Coal Mine. The third shaft of the Wolverine coal mine, eight miles west of Bay City, is practically completed. It is a novelty in that the entries are wide enough for double tracks for the coal cars. The entries driven indicate that it will be one of the best producers in the valley. Another shaft is contemplated for that vicinity, and with a private railroad to the river front. Handy Brothers will have superior advantages for handling their output. [TTN-1903-0410]

1904. Mine Must Shut Down. The fire at the Wolverine coal mine No. 2 on Friday not only did damage of $4,000 to $5,000 but necessitates a suspension of operations for about four months. This will not only throw 150 or 160 men out of employment, but also is a source of considerable loss to the company as the mine was turning out about 500 tons of coal a day, with many orders ahead. The work of repairing has already begun and will be pushed rapidly. [DFP-1904-1114]