The No.1 surface plant consisted not only of the engine house but also a rather large boiler house as well. The No.1 boiler house accommodated four boilers, with plenty of available space to add more. The building also featured a line of inclosed coal bins, filled by means of an overhead trestle running through the buildings upper story. After leaving the ruins of the hoist behind, we found ourselves confronted with the remains of the boiler house sprawling out into the woods.

Since you would normally expect to find very little left of a typical boiler house, it was quite a pleasant surprise to find ourselves confronted with an actual foundation wall. Like the neighboring hoist ruin, the boiler house’s outer wall was built up out of conglomerate rock.

As was to be expected considering the building’s size, the foundation wall stretched off towards the woods and disappeared into the creeping darkness of twilight. Large sections of the building’s upper walls were scattered about its length, including the rather large specimen sitting at our feet (right side of photo).

After a few dozen feet we came to what looked like a doorway, complete with a short set of concrete steps set across the opening. (the photo above is looking at the opening from inside the boiler house)

Within the building’s outer walls stood a rather featureless concrete slab, covered with a thin layer of dirt and debris along with a few weeds and saplings. Absent was the parallel group of trenches we’ve come to expect in a boiler house ruin. Instead we were presented with a rather large pit set within the building’s north end. According to Sanborn maps the boilers were on the south end, so the purpose of this pit isn’t readily apparent. Its possible that it was used as a water tank, but that’s really more of a guess.

Turning back southward we make our way past the old boiler’s – if they were still in place. Marking the route was the building’s west foundation wall, covered by a healthy layer of moss sitting like a cap across its top. Several dozen feet into the darkening woods the wall stopped, and was replaced by the towering girth of a concrete stack. We had finally made it.