[Archers] Mine at Pennsic

[Janyn Fletcher]

I think that's a bunch of hooey about a cave-in especially since I have
multiple picture of them parking hundreds of cars up there 2 years ago. I
know some of us archers have big heads but they are not as heavy as a car!
:P



-----Original Message-----
From: archers-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:archers-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of John Atkins
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 10:19 AM
To: 'Garth Groff'; archers at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Subject: Re: [Archers] Mine at Pennsic

Amazing research Mungo!  From folks behind the scenes and in the know I had
heard that we archers got booted off the hill because the heavies wanted
their woods battle in that area due to lack of potential access of emergency
vehicles in the old woods battle area.  However, having talked with many of
the heavies who fought in the new location, they tell me access is no better
and in fact, the footing is much worse as the woods have not been cleaned
out and there are several "pits" along with tree fells and snags that serve
quite well as foot traps and tripping mechanisms.

A few years back I dropped a stone into one of the holes that were marked
off on the old range.  I heard nothing for a few seconds then the sound of
the stone hitting bottom and echoing.  Kinda eerie. 

Personally I never bought the story of the collapsing mine under the hill.
Particularly if you consider the average weight of an archer compared to the
average weight of a heavy in full armor with weapons.  Uhhh, let me see, who
weighs more?

But it is what it is and we have to live with it.  I don't think getting our
old range back is a battle we will ever win.

cog

-----Original Message-----
From: archers-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:archers-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Garth Groff
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 9:55 AM
To: archers at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Subject: [Archers] Mine at Pennsic

Noble friends,

A couple of weeks back we were discussing the old archery range at Pennsic
and the question of whether the hill was riddled with collapsing tunnels.
For what it is worth, here is the summary of my recent researches:

Other than my own observation of the subsidance at Pennsic 37, I am still
unable to confirm the existence of a mine beneath the hill. That said, I did
some searching for resources on coal mining and Butler County, and was
overwhelmed by the hundreds of mines that exist/existed there. The names are
recorded in a huge database, with is not set up for searching by location,
and each entry would have to be examined for clues to its location (Worth
Township, would probably the key). That said, I found the USGS Topographic
map for the Porterville quadrangle, which just barely includes the Coopers
Lake area. No mines are indicated on the hill itself (but USGS maps only
indicate visible works, ruins, tunnel adits or shafts). The west side of our
hill has been strip mined at some time in the past. An additional played-out
strip mine exists between the freeway and the hill, probably part of the far
north parking area. If you are familiar with coal mining, you may recall
that underground mines often take coal from seams in galleries, leaving
large pillars to hold up the earth above the gallery and wasting a lot of
valuable coal. Many areas were later strip mined to get at this coal that
had been bypassed by underground mining. The presence of slumps on the
former main archery field, and strip mining within a 1/2 mile or so on
either side strongly suggest this hill might have hidden tunnels beneath it.
There are literally dozens of strip mines or reclaimed areas shown on the
Porterville quad map around Coopers Lake, including huge works to the north
and south of Rt. 422 along Muddy Creek. The whole Butler area was once a
major coal producer, and some coal is still being recovered in the area. If
I could find a USGS or state division of mines publication on coal or
minerals in Butler County, I might be able to confirm this, and such pubs do
exist, though not online or in my library.

In addition, there is an old railroad grade which crosses the Coopers Lake
property. It runs east-west just to the north of the creek, skirts the
southern edge of Coopers Lake itself, then turns due south, crossing
422 on the west side of the Freeway. I suspect it may be close to our
current archery range. I would not be surprised if there was a spur up to
our former archery range area a long time ago to reach a coal loader, but if
so, it has been obscured by later development or farming of the main site.
So far, I haven't found any more information on this railroad, but it
wouldn't be too hard to uncover if I had the time.

Kind regards,


Lord Mungo Napier
(aka Garth Groff, Amateur Industrial Historian)


_______________________________________________
Archers mailing list
Archers at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
http://seahorse.atlantia.sca.org/listinfo.cgi/archers-atlantia.sca.org

_______________________________________________
Archers mailing list
Archers at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
http://seahorse.atlantia.sca.org/listinfo.cgi/archers-atlantia.sca.org