The earliest settlers mined coal among the hills of south
central Iowa. Not until the late 1860s did the industry of coal
mining begin to rapidly grow in Iowa. By that time the major
Iowa railroads reached from the Mississippi River in the east to
the Missouri River in the west. The railroads leased land in
coal producing areas and operated mines which produced coal for
the use of the railroads. These were the largest and most
productive mines in the state. Coal mining along Muchakinock
creek dates back to 1843, when local blacksmiths mined coal from
exposures along the creek. By 1867, there were small drift mines
all along Muchakinock Creek down to Eddyville where the creek
flows into the Des Moines River. In 1873, the Iowa Central
Railroad built a branch along Muchakinock Creek. The
Consolidation Coal Company was formed in 1875 by the merger of
the Iowa Central Coal Company, the Black Diamond Mines of
Coalfield, in Monroe County, Iowa, and the Eureka Mine, in
Beacon, Iowa. By 1878, Consolidation Coal Compan