ROCKY TOP, Tenn. — One of the worst mining tragedies that killed 219 boys and men was 120 years ago. On May 19, 1902, there was an explosion inside a mine in an East Tennessee town that trapped some miners inside. The tragedy killed every man in Fratervile, except for three men.
In Rocky Top on Thursday, people held a wreathe ceremony at the Coal Creek Miners Museum to honor the anniversary.
"It's a very touching moment in that it celebrates a very tragic event, probably the worst mining disaster that ever happened in the country," said Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally at an event on Thursday.
According to the Tennessee State Library, miners were investigating a collapsed wall and ignited a pocket of methane gas, which caused an explosion. Smoke and debris erupted from the mine, blocking some of the miners in.
Rescuers tried to help survivors of the explosion. They used improvised ventilation systems to try and keep people alive while clearing a path to them, but none survived. Hours after the explosion, 26 miners who were barricaded into a passage suffocated.
Those miners wrote notes to their loved ones on the walls of the mine. According to officials, the miners knew there was no hope for a rescue so they wrote their final thoughts on a wall.
Fratervile was devastated by the tragedy, and two people were charged with negligence in the explosion. They were the ventilation furnace operator and the superintendent, but both were acquitted.
Experts estimate that from 1902 to 1927, more than 2,400 Appalachian workers died in mine explosions. According to the Tennessee Encyclopedia, the ventilation furnace had been shut down all weekend and was likely lit by the miners' lamps.