What is it Wednesday: March 3, 2021

 

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

March 3, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

 

 

This is what is left of an entrance tunnel to the abandoned coal mine
that is partially on Lutherlyn’s property. 

This coal mine was a drift mine -the entrance tunnels run horizontally into the hillside, not vertically down into the ground like a shaft mine. All that is visible of this entrance now is the end of the narrow-gage rails that carried carts into the mine, and a depression in the hillside where the tunnel collapsed many years ago.

Coal was initially mined in this area along Semiconon Creek to power a grist mill for grinding grain into flour. The mill had first been built with a water wheel powered by the water of the creek, but adopted steam power after it was developed, and coal was needed to run this new technology. After the grist mill shut down, coal continued to be mined out of the hillside and sold, until the mine closed down completely when it was no longer profitable.

Unfortunately, this abandoned mine leaks a significant amount of polluted water on the Lutherlyn property. Fortunately, we are able to clean this water before it enters the Semiconon Creek, with a passive wetland treatment system. Learn more about the pollution and how it is treated in this What is it Wednesday post from last year: https://lutherlynnature.blogspot.com/2020/02/what-is-it-wednesday-february-19-2020.html. 

Learning about the land involves learning about the human history of the land – especially when that history has had a strong impact on the health of the environment. We are grateful that in this place a story of pollution and damage to the earth has become a story of healing and restoration and opportunities for learning. To learn how LEEP can help you discover more about ways we can care for the earth and even help heal its wounds, through school field trips, summer camp, Saturday Safaris and more, check out www.Lutherlyn.com/ee.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!