A photograph of a coal miner from the collections of the Kansas Historical Society is featured among new stamps by the U.S. Postal Service released in August. Supporters had worked for years to promote a stamp series to honor the work of coal miners.

The photo of the Kansas coal miner was taken in the 1940s or 1950s by the Kansas Department of Economic Development and donated in 1966. The identity of the coal miner is unknown. The photograph can be found on Kansas Memory, kansasmemory.org/item/209756.

History of Kansas coal mining

Coal mining in Kansas began in the 1850s, when shallow mines were dug near Fort Leavenworth in Leavenworth County.  Missourians also mined coal in Cherokee County in southeast Kansas near what is now Weir for use by blacksmiths.

Just before and just after the Civil War, the availability of coal became critical to the development of railroads. Coal burned hotter and was less bulky than wood and quickly became the preferred fuel for steam engines. Strip mining in Bourbon, Cherokee and Crawford counties produced coal for the railroads in the 1870s.

By 1889, there were 118 coal mines in Osage County and more than 2,200 people worked in the mining industry. Osage County produced more than 400,000 tons of coal, providing fuel for the Santa Fe railroad, whose main line passes through Osage County.

In the 1930s, strip mining once again became the preferred method of mining coal in southeastern Kansas (though underground mining continued until 1960 in southeast Kansas and until 1964 in Osage County). Coal beds too thin to be mined underground were stripped by power shovels, some of which dug to depths of almost 100 feet. One of the world's largest power shovels, Big Brutus, was used in Cherokee County; it is now a museum with exhibits on coal mining and southeastern Kansas.

Strip mining leaves the land marked with deep ditches and high ridges. As the shovels removed the overburden, they created trenches up to 100 feet wide and as much as 100 feet deep. Before widespread land reclamation was required in 1969, this land was abandoned and left to grow back to trees and brush while the trenches filled with water.

Few active mines left in Kansas

In 1969, the Kansas Legislature passed regulations requiring coal companies to reclaim the land. Subsequently, more stringent federal regulations were enacted. Today strip mines must be converted into useful productive land. Once an area has been mined, companies must smooth out the ditches, replace the topsoil, and plant grass or crops similar to what was present prior to mining. In theory, once the land is leveled, it can be used for farming or grazing, but pyrite left behind from the coal mining must be buried because exposed pyrite can increase the acidity of the soil, making it hard to cultivate.

Today the only active coal mines in Kansas are located in southern Linn County. These mines produce the Mulberry coal that is blended and burned with coal from Wyoming at the La Cygne Generating Station near La Cygne, Kansas.