Michigan Coal Country: County Histories of Michigan's Coal Mines

A tall wooden coal mine shaft house with an inclined trestle, two tall smokestacks behind a boiler house, a line of railroad cars, and a man and a boy standing in the weeds in the foreground. — The old Saginaw mine, opened in 1896 by W. T. Chappell and described as the first coal mine in Saginaw County, Michigan. From the 1918 History of Saginaw County.Unknown photographer; in Mills, James Cooke, History of Saginaw County, Michigan. Internet Archive. Source record. Public domain.

These 3 pages tell the story of Michigan coal mining county by county, written only from the old county histories, with every source cited.

The counties

Coal Mining in Bay County, Michigan: Monitor, Williams, SalzburgHow coal mining began in Bay County, Michigan, after 1894: the Monitor, Wenona and Wolverine mines, named miners, wages and deaths, per the 1905 history.From the 1905 county history

Coal Mining in Jackson County, Michigan: Jackson and WoodvilleDe Land's 1903 history on Jackson County, Michigan coal: the 1857 shaft on the Jonathan Wood property and the Woodville, Porter and Big Slope mines.From the 1903 county history

Coal Mining in Shiawassee County, Michigan: Corunna and OwossoHow coal was found and mined near Corunna and Owosso, Michigan, from 1839 to 1880: McArthur's Coal Creek find, the Corunna Coal Company, and Ohio miners.From the 1880 county history

Coal country in the other Midwest states →

Tracing a coal-mining ancestor in Michigan

Federal census. From 1850 on, the census lists each man's occupation. Look for "coal miner" or "miner," the township, and his birthplace and his parents' birthplaces, which often point to another coal region or another country.
Death records and cemeteries. Search our Michigan database by surname. Many coal camps had their own cemeteries, which outlived the towns.
Mine inspectors' reports. State mine inspectors published regular reports on the mines in their districts, including accidents.
The county histories. Each page here links the books it was written from. Their biographical sections name operators, superintendents, and miners, with parents, spouses, and where the family came from.
Newspapers. Local papers carried mine openings, strikes, accidents, and obituaries. Chronicling America, from the Library of Congress, is free to search.

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Frequently asked questions

Where were Michigan's coal mines?

The pages here cover Bay, Jackson and Shiawassee counties, as the old county histories describe them. Each page names the mines, companies and camps its books record.

How do I find out if my ancestor was a coal miner in Michigan?

Start with the census: from 1850 on it lists occupation, so look for 'coal miner' or 'miner' and note the township. Then read the county history for that county and look for the state mine inspectors' reports.

Are these pages based on real sources?

Yes. Each county page is written only from public-domain county histories, names the books, and links to the full text on the Internet Archive.

Photographs on this page are in the public domain. About the images and their sources.