Springhill will pause to remember its coal mining heritage on Monday, Oct. 23, when a park is unveiled on the site of the former Lamp Cabin building near the pitheads to the Number 2 and Number 3 mines.
The Lamp Cabin Memorial Park includes interpretive signage detailing the history of the site and mining in Springhill, a sign in tribute to the women of Springhill, a brick planter, a walking trail, benches and accessible picnic tables.
The estimated cost of $17,535 was funded by the estate of the late Dr. Dorothy Saffron, a Springhill native who went on to practice as a psychiatrist in New York.
The former Lamp Cabin structure on Miners Memorial Drive was demolished in 2020 after falling into disrepair.
The women of Springhill will be recognized during the unveiling of the new Lamp Cabin Memorial Park on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at 1 p.m. at the park’s location on Miners Memorial Drive. The park, on the site of the former Lamp Cabin building, memorializes those miners who lost their lives in the mines as well as the women who waited at the pitheads for word on the fate of their husbands. National Archives of Canada photo
“The site of the former Lamp Cabin building was known in Springhill as the last walk,” Municipality of Cumberland Mayor Murray Scott said. “The miners would come into the building as they headed off to their day or night of work in the mines. They would exchange their street gear for their underground gear and come back when their shift was over. For those who lost their lives underground they never came back.”
While the unveiling is occurring on the 65th anniversary of the 1958 Bump that ended large scale mining in Springhill, the park is a memorial to all the miners who worked and lost their lives in the major disasters of 1891, 1956 and 1958 as well as the wives who kept vigil at the pitheads awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones.
“This park means a lot to the community and it means a lot to me personally,” the mayor said. “It’s about remembering all the miners who lost their lives and all of those committed to working in the mines over the years, and it’s about all the wives who waited at the pithead for work on their husbands.”
The Bump in October 1958 killed 75 miners, occurring just two years after a mine explosion in 1956 killed 39 miners. The 1891 explosion killed 125 men and boys.
In total, approximately 440 miners lost their lives in Springhill’s coal mines between 1876 and 1969.
Angel McCormick, one of two Springhill area councillors on Cumberland municipal council, is pleased to see the park project come to fruition after the community lost the Lamp Cabin building itself.
“I was very disappointed when we lost the Lamp Cabin. I know it had to be torn down but when people are coming in from other provinces or the U.S. they ask where did this all happen? I didn’t want to lose that aspect of our history in Springhill,” McCormick said. “We had to make this some kind of a site so people would know.
“I don’t want the younger generation to forget what Springhill went through,” McCormick said.
Approximately 440 coal miners lost their lives in Springhill’s mines between 1876 and 1969, including the 1891 disaster, the 1956 explosion and the 1958 Bump as well as numerous single mishaps. National Archives of Canada photo
The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. at the park site on Miners Memorial Drive with the unveiling of three interpretive signs and comments by Mayor Scott. From there, participants will make their way to the Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre where the anniversary of the 1958 Bump will be commemorated with the playing of a recording of the CBC’s live coverage from the mine 65 years ago.
There will also be a performance by the daughters of Maurice Ruddick, known as the singing miner, as well as by Clare (Turnbull) Canning, who also lost her father to the mines.
Mary Willa Littler, who has chronicled the community’s mining heritage, will give a reading.
Mayor Scott said it’s so important for Springhill to remember its mining heritage because it was the community’s main economic engine and so many young men and boys lost their lives going underground.
“It’s important that we remember what happened here. It’s a big part of our history,” the mayor said. “Those of us who live here and grew up here know about our mining past and we remember those who lost their lives, but there may be young people or newcomers who don’t. It’s also important for future generations who come after us to know and remember.”