While Noah and his Hollinger Mine were pursuing their unique version of a company town. Dome took another approach. They rebuilt their plant after the 1911 fire and decided to provide accommodation for their senior staff both married and single, right at the mine site. Dome wasnt as generous with their employees like Hollinger was. Lack of Funding may have been the issue. Initially there were just five houses, three small bunkhouses, and three foremens houses, but by 1914, the property had expanded to house 27 more houses, the recreational facilities such as the photo below taken in 1915, a school and a small hospital. The Dome miners and other workmen were expected to fend for themselves. Many found rooms or homes in the South Porcupine area, while others (notably Italians) began to squat on company property near the mine. When Dome acquired some adjacent property from the Dome Extension Mine Companies in 1915, the managers decided that they wanted to build accommodations for their workers on the new site, as housing in South Porcupine could not supply the expanded workforce. As a three story dorm was built, others followed. Although the houses were rented to the employees at a very low rate, A rink was in the works as well as other services , used as an incentive to keep their employees. However the Black Shacks as they were called were built very cheaply and construction was so rushed, that they would deteriorate quickly causing many maintenance problems for the company and its occupants. One major contributor to the problem was the dampness Another was drainage.Four of theses problem houses were located in Cyanide Alley. I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of that area and does anyone have any photos of what that would look like today. :) Or even a photo of a Black Shack
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 21:13:05 +0000
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