07/14/2026
It's always interesting to ask my clients what they remember about their grandparets. A hundred years ago, being a coal miner was a very common occupation.
From the late 1800s through the early 1900s, thousands of men worked underground in communities like Boone, Madrid, Monroe, and the coal camps around Des Moines. At its peak in 1917, Iowa produced more than 9 MILLION tons of coal, fueling homes, railroads, and industries across the Midwest. As cleaner energy sources and imported coal became more common, Iowa's mines gradually closed. Today, commercial coal mining has disappeared from the state, leaving behind only the stories of the families who lived it.
It's funny how much the world changes in just a few generations without most of us even realizing it. It's important to capture these stories before they can no longer be told.
