"Springhill is a Town on the highest ground between Minas Basin and Northumberland Strait, in the center of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. In the Cobequid Mountains, it has an elevation varying from 450 to 600 feet above sea level. Located in the carboniferous area on the southern side of the Cumberland Coal Basin, Springhill's six main coal seams overlie one another. The seams, separated by strata of sandstone and shale from thirty to three hundred feet thick, were once horizontal, but, because they were raised by internal earth movement, slopes must be used to descend into the mines. The seams dip to the northwest at an angle of thirty-five degrees. Some of the workings were a mile underground, making them among the deepest coal mines in the world.
In early records, our Town is called "Springhill Mines", an appropriate name because Springhill was literally built on coal. Coal mining initiated the growth and prosperity of the town, and right up to the 1960's, it was the town's bread and butter. The Town is there ON the surface because the coal is there UNDER the surface, in coal deposits underlying all of the Town.
When "bumps" (underground upheavals) occurred in the mines, they would be felt in the homes: a "bump" would shake the houses enough to make windows and dishes rattle anywhere in Town. There was a time when men got coal out of their backyards; shallow pits were found everywhere.
Although "The Mines" were closed in 1962, Springhill has continued to live, its people proud of their past and their heritage, built on the coal deposits that still remain beneath us."
This excerpt was taken from the book "Springhill - Our Goodly Heritage" which was published by the Springhill Heritage Group. A book of "history, happenings and homes" Springhill - Our Goodly Heritage traces the development of this Nova Scotia coal mining town from the arrival of a few homesteading pioneers to 1988. With this well illustrated and carefully researched book the Springhill Heritage Group has presented the story of a community known worldwide for courage in the face of disaster.
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