Mine was located in the far North Western corner of the town of Rockport.  
The mine shaft was on a small knoll some four hundred or so feet just East of the 
Green River at Rockport and just above the flat land where the Rockport Ball Park 
was situated.  The actual entry would was almost directly below where the Highway 
62 bridge crosses the river, maybe just a little downriver from the actual bridge.  
The mining entries were back <br><br>  

The 
Rockport mine was furnished with all modern equipment that included a tipple, loading 
dock, boiler room, engine room, and with rail and water access. The loading dock on 
the Green River was used to transport coal from the mines to steel mills in Pittsburg 
and to other coal usage plants.  A rail tipple and a railroad spur linked the mine 
to the Illinois Central Railroad Company where the mined coal could be shipped by 
rail to Louisville, Chicago, and other area for production of electricity, steel, and 
other coal burning plants.  

A platform was built to hoist some of the equipment from the burning 
mine, but most of the machinery and such were left inside.  Not to be outdone and 
not to be completely shut down, some mining continued on a small scale.  A group 
of people, maybe a family that went by the name of Hardenfelt moved to town and 
operated the mine.  It was rumored that the Hardenfelt group bought the mine, but 
no deed was ever found. By the time that I was able to get out and explore the 
Rockport area, the mine shaft had been filled in and the river loading dock had 
deteriorated until only the pilings were still standing.  Yes, a gob pile on the 
south side of the mine was an eyesore for many a year to follow.  I have been told 
that the fire continued to burn for years after the initial blaze and at times 
a haze from the smoke was visible in the Rockport area and the odor from the 
smothering coal could be detected. I was roaming the are in the mid-forties and I 
never sensed any smoke nor odor.  I did fish in and around the dock pilings and 
avoided the area of the gob pile.  Today, the Rockport Highway Bridge has been 
freshly painted in a coat of blue and the green grass growing in that area is personal 
property and being maintained in a neat and fashionably order.