Briceville Mine Explosion

Date: December 9, 1911 • Location: Rocky Top, United States

A mine explosion near Briceville, Tennessee, killed 84 miners despite a well-organized rescue effort led by the United States Bureau of Mines.

The Cross Mountain Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion that occurred on December 9, 1911, near the community of Briceville, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. In spite of a well-organized rescue effort led by the newly created Bureau of Mines, 84 miners died in the disaster. The cause of the explosion was the ignition of dust and methane gas released by a roof fall. Miners would use open oil lamps to provide a light source down in the mines.