Welcome to the CacheMore 2023 series! This cache was hidden as part of a friendly geocaching competition to encourage exploring the areas surrounding North Central WV, Southwest PA, and Western MD. To learn more and participate for yourself, please click HERE.
Season 1
Mather was a coal mining community. Mather Colliery was a captive mine built in 1917 by Picklands, Mather & Co.to supply coal to their coke ovens in Toledo, Cleveland, and Canton, Ohio. The Mather coal mine closed in 1964 or 1965.
On May 19, 1928 an explosion in the Mather mine killed 195 miners, one of the worst coal mine disasters of all time. It happened at 4:07 in the afternoon during a shift change. There were 270 men in the mine at the time, and 193 of them were killed in the explosion. 2 others died outside after being rescued. It was determined that the explosion was caused by a pocket of gas being ignited by an arc from an electric underground locomotive.
The miners would congregate in a gazebo in the center of town. This gazebo became known as “The Liars Den”. This is where the biggest fish was caught and where the biggest deer was shot. In the days of the Mather Mine, which operated from 1919 to 1964, only miners were allowed at the den. In later years, after the mine closed, the den became a site for young people to congregate.