Bridgeport Coal Mines

The mines had a second shaft and a workforce the plaque leaves unnamed. Moore's 1953 Centennial History of Wise County says Mine No. 2, in West Bridgeport, was said to have been sunk by Governor Hogg and then abandoned, until a Virginia buyer reopened it in 1900 under M. H. John. It took two years to reach full production, and John tunneled between Mines 2 and 3 for mule-drawn cars. Rows of miners' cottages housed what Moore calls a Latin-American colony, which dispersed when the mines closed in 1929, after the railroad converted to oil.

What the plaque says

Bridgeport Coal Mines Once a staple of Bridgeport's economy, coal was discovered here in later part of 19th century. Diggers hit vein 60 feet deep while seeking water. Mine No. 1 lies under northeast Bridgeport, and entire area is honeycombed with tunnels and shafts. Wise County Coal Company was chartered August 23, 1882, by C. D. Cates, J. C. Carpenter, J. G. Halsell, J. J. Lang, H. Greathouse, and D. Waggoner. The firm was bought in 1900 by Colonel William H. Aston of Virginia. Renamed Bridgeport Coal Company, it had 500 employees at Zenith. Mines closed in 1929 due to increased use of oil and gas. (1971)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Wise County Courthouse — 10 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's granite Romanesque courthouse of 1895-96 in Decatur, built after fire destroyed the Second Empire courthouse and set off a fight over the county seat.
• Fort Richardson State Park and Historic Site — 22 mi
  The northernmost post of the Texas frontier line, outside Jacksboro, where a stone hospital and six other buildings stand from 1867 and a later Guard unit became the Lost Battalion.

More markers nearby

• Hunt, Col. William Hudson — 0.9 mi
• Republic of Texas' Santa Fe Expedition in Wise County — 1.3 mi
• Toll Bridge & Old Bridgeport — 1.7 mi
• Dr. M. W. Matthews — 5.4 mi