COAL MINE CATASTROPHE - The Odd Case of Shawnee, OH | Abandoned Ohio

Buy my Polaroids to support my work! 🠆www.etsy.com/s...
Take a journey to a half-abandoned town victim to a 134-year-old coal mine fire. Shawnee is the oddest town you've never seen.
Shot with a Canon T6: amzn.to/37MQIjo
Thanks for watching!
Music is an adaptation of Jynweythek by Aphex Twin for piano, as well as an adaptation of Radiohead's "Daydreaming" for piano as well.
Instagram - @spacebox1984
Soundcloud - soundcloud.com/crystal-lakes
Bandcamp - crystallakes.bandcamp.com
♣FOLLOW GEOFF - @geoffrey.webb on Instagram
Special thanks to Geoff for the extra hand with the camera. It definitely allowed me to experience the town rather than just film it.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

[@nancyhicksgribble9799]

Its so amazing to see how different rural towns are in Southern Ohio. Its like a whole different state almost.

[@colleenwelch2330]

Southern Ohio actually wants to secede from the rest of Ohio, FYI.

[@carolyn9andthecats653]

You're right, almost......but its ok, I'd take care of you, no matter what....youre gorgeous! Keep you smiling til your face hurts lol every day!

[@tig44881]

We have the beauty of Ohio down here 😍

[@getlostyougoofball]

Anything outside Cuyahoga County is like another state, heh.

[@evanseurkamp76]

Shawnee is pretty neat, I grew up there so it is nice to see people like you appreciate it

[@theVHSvlog]

Thanks for watching! I really enjoyed visiting

[@Laffy1345]

We have a Shawnee, Oklahoma.

[@bp5439]

It's in Perry County?

[@scottdavidson526]

@@bp5439 Yes it is.

[@josephivan5094]

​@@bp5439 yes it's In salt lick township. It is named that because there is a natural salt lick in the area It's my home town and yes I used to wear flannel and ride dirt bikes it was fun. making fun of people for what they are wearing makes them look petty. I am now a war vet who has traveled around the world from the arctic circle to Asia Africa South America etc. I have met famous people, politicians and CEO's of large well known corporations I have received a citation from the white house for being a medical escort for a past vice-president. And speak a couple languages. Looks can be deceiving.

[@Travis-iy5xt]

Great video, it was somewhat depressing, but small forgotten towns are always interesting.

[@kelseywilk4892]

What’s crazy is that people inhabit a lot of shawnee but walking through there it seems as if no one has been there for years. There’s a little historic theatre on that strip of buildings on Main Street a group of people has been trying to raise the money to restore for over 20 years it just seems any work these people try to do it falls through because of the terrible economy in the area since the coal fires. Being there is always unreal and baffles me. I’m from Cleveland but I visit family there often

[@theduyvenbode3862]

The funeral procession was fitting. You really do an amazing job on editing and narration.

[@theVHSvlog]

Thank you! I got lucky filming on a Sunday

[@tehrybite]

I really enjoyed the use of Jynweythek, some of those non-electronic pieces from Drukqs really give off that lonely, yet wondrous feel, and it really enhanced the story in this case.

[@terriburlile6985]

Great job on this video...thank you. Believe it or not it makes me wanna move there. In this day & age a slower, less crowded, quieter life sounds almost too good to be true...

[@clintcooper1467]

You don't wanna move here lol

[@brittanyjackson1718]

@@clintcooper1467 why not?

[@clintcooper1467]

It's a shit hole

[@ledarriusknighton6863]

My family is from Piqua; basically attached to Shawnee and Piqua is a great bed-town and people alway's wave. It's a great place to raise a family. There is a lot of beautiful historical site's. The lineage of my Indian and African American family are established there in that great town. It's not very exciting but we love it there. I'm currently moving back myself in the week to come. I miss old fashioned slow town's as where you can actually enjoy bonfire's and meditate. There is a lot of other small country towns surrounding on the out skirt's of Piqua/Shawnee as well. I encourage anyone to relocate there. I can't wait to see my friend's there. :)

[@ledarriusknighton6863]

Move to Piqua instead.

[@southeasternohiopicker3317]

its a neat old town i have been there many times

[@erikmoller84]

Nicely done video.

[@bobmiller9313]

Wife and I went there a number of times. Got to know some of the folks working to restore the theatre and other structures soon there will be a restaurant where the laundromat is

[@austinmiller3497]

There is definitely a lot of history down here one thing I would like to get a picture of is the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad caboose that's sitting right next to State route 93 before you go up the hill in Shawnee Ohio across from Tecumseh Lake part of that it was the Rock run branch that used to go from Newark through Buckeye Lake and through Shawnee I'm glad they are preserving that caboose car once in a while they'll paint it up real good and make it nice look nice

[@scottdavidson526]

They renovated the train station here in Newark and it looks great.

[@austinmiller3497]

@@scottdavidson526 Yes it does it looks outstanding

[@ripvanrevs]

The Baltimore and Ohio went to Shawnee but not through. The Columbus, Shawnee, and Hocking railroad which later became the Zanesville and Western Railway came in from the east and serviced the XX mine at Tecumseh Lake. My understanding is the two did not meet.

[@djraiders8402]

Thanks for sharing... i livef in Corning in 1969....

[@theVHSvlog]

Cool! I visited Corning too. Interesting little town

[@buddyanddaisy123]

Those front balconys on Main Street are interesting..never seen anything like that.

[@carolyn9andthecats653]

I'm sorry, as I mean no harm.....but you are absolutely gorgeous! May life treat you well, babygirl, bc I know that i would! 💋

[@lemcg5574]

New Orleans

[@ripvanrevs]

Most of them are gone now. The buildings became too unsafe.

[@jamesmacneil1609]

Very well researched and excellently narrated.

[@theVHSvlog]

Thank you!

[@getlostyougoofball]

I have driven the entire route of SR 93. Absolutely gorgeous and haunting at the same time.

[@theVHSvlog]

Hey that's a goal of mine! How long did it take?

[@getlostyougoofball]

@@theVHSvlog if I remember correctly, it took about seven hours from Akron to Ironton.

[@getlostyougoofball]

@@theVHSvlog another beautiful and haunting SR to go post to post is 7, from Conneaut to Chesapeake. New Matamaras was a cool stop.

[@ethanweeter2732]

@@getlostyougoofball Did you stop off in Logan? Hocking Hills is a beautiful area.

[@ripvanrevs]

Before 1962, it was signed as State Route 75.

[@TheRealBP3]

Me and a small group of friends travelled here. It was WILD seeing an active small community here, like, there were legit apartments, a couple businesses and so on and so forth. Though its a bit depressing because quite literally everyone is cutoff. There is no PD, EMS, and fire so if someone dies or gets hurt, you better be resourceful. Truly a town frozen in time.

[@ripvanrevs]

That is not true. The have a fire dept and even have a helicopter pad for medivac. Part time police in the village and Perry county Sherrif's dept.

[@JOEYUNDERGROUND]

Great video. Very well put together.

[@theVHSvlog]

JOEY_UNDERGROUND Thanks!

[@jonimichalski69]

Their Are Lot's of Towns Like Shawnee In the Coal mining State's Ask About Centralia.

[@balsamicvinegar5789]

I've lived in Ohio most of my life and had no idea.

[@chillicothe417]

Sad, union workers upset about their jobs. Set mine on fire, making them out of a job. Now no job to be upset about.

[@MrThenry1988]

This was before unions.

[@richardmcvey1508]

@@MrThenry1988 yeah but the unions didn't learn anything from previous actions. Went on strike for nothing and now still no jobs.

[@Tony-hx2fj]

idiot , without the unions children would still be working in the mines , any adults worked for starvation wages. If mine owners were even slightly reasonable , there wouldn't be unions. Can you imagine how brave it was to strike. Mine owners paid thugs to kill and beat miners. @@richardmcvey1508

[@MrThenry1988]

@@Tony-hx2fj You got a point. But I figure you have nothing else but democrat bullshit from here on out. Prove me wrong.

[@richardmcvey1508]

@@Tony-hx2fj tell me all about what you know about unions in general. I grew up around UMWA and saw them in action. Ran a communist organization, my way or no way. The early union years was the best for the miners. Later they only considered themselves, not the jobs or the miners. Why do you think mines closed and sometimes reopened with different owner, name and nonunion? Nobody makes money when you are on strike more than you work. I saw the dictatorship in WVa and it put many companies out of business. I wonder how many people wish they had worked instead of striking over foolishness? Too late now but you always face reality when you tell an organization how to run their company. The UMWA was great in the beginning but wasn't much in later years. Just like majority of unions. Damn joke.

[@EddieC2000]

I was in that carryout 2 years ago your referring to. Looked like the roof was going to cave in at any given moment. Friendly people there though but they looked rough from time living there. A local said most people there drive 1 hour to Zanesville for work.

[@LunarEquity93]

Great video this is a amazing place my aunt and uncle live here and so do other members of my family that & they got that B&O caboose all repainted and back in the day the tracks used to go all the way through Shawnee Ohio into Corning Ohio known as The Rock Run branch and the Shawnee Branch it used to go all the way up into Newark Ohio and New straightsville Ohio and can you do a video in Mount Perry Ohio through East Fultonham Ohio and into Avondale Ohio in the future

[@kimberlylholt]

Beautiful town.

[@DrZalian]

Your videos haunt me....in a good way. Good art always stays with you. I often think of the images.... I grew up in the general area and long to revisit these areas.

[@koneko6761]

shawnee is like 30 minutes from me, been awhile since i’ve been there. ohio is something.

[@coolmoodee]

Pretty cool place . I bet I could buy some real estate there real cheap . Maybe open up a business downtown . I think I'm going to do some research on this place .

[@theVHSvlog]

That's the thing. What if a bunch of people got together and opened up businesses and made a town? Could be an opportunity

[@coolmoodee]

@@theVHSvlog I agree ... businesses that play into the history of the area . Check out videos of a town by me . Galena Illinois. Is a awesome old town. The businesses fit in well to the city .

[@herbalannie7707]

I see this happening in many small forgotten places. Small communities will be the thing in the future for resourceful people. Especially after the financial system collapses and people will barter and develop local monetary systems.

[@billgueltig6136]

I visited Shawnee , Oh in 1980. I drove through en route to a site that I needed to inspect. I was amazed at what I saw. There were many substantial 3 story brick buildings, mostly vacant. There was no internet then so little info was available . I did get the impression that this town must have been home to several thousand people with businesses that served the outlying area. I always wondered what happened. I never made the connection with the decline of coal mining. The topography of the area was not amenable to agriculture and I suspected that travel here might have been challenging during inclement weather. I am sure that population and buildings have been lost since 1980. I have often thought about how life in Shawnee must have been in its heyday..

[@tygehle2475]

I was confused for a minute, I was thinking of Fort Shawnee in Allen County, nice place

[@tessamohler7155]

Ty Gehle me too. In Lima Ohio- There is Fort Shawnee and Shawnee High school. Very nice place!

[@another90daystochangethis34]

I would totally live there

[@southeasternohiopicker3317]

they want people to buy and restore the buildings there, you could

[@another90daystochangethis34]

+the stig stigington If the cost of buying the properties are cheap enough.

[@colleenwelch2330]

it is a very quaint town. There is also New Straitsville, which is only a few miles from Shawnee that is actually alive and well.

[@LunarEquity93]

That Old Shawnee restaurant in Shawnee Ohio I used to go there alot many years ago when I was little and they had pretty good food that building is long gone and was replaced with something else

[@graylynmichellegelfling]

My father was born in Shawnee, Ohio, in 1913.

[@heizhummer6326]

Heres a 🍪

[@thereviewauthority]

They are actually opening up old businesses in this town and redoing it!

[@theVHSvlog]

That's great! I can't wait to see it revamped

[@astoriabeasley]

Oh really?? I just visited there a few days ago.

[@astoriabeasley]

That white building at 0:24 caught on fire and half of it is in ashes

[@ripvanrevs]

@@astoriabeasley All of those buildings to the corner (3) have been torn down. The building on the other side of the street (left) has been torn down and the building next to it has been redone and is an ATV business. The Black Diamond Bar and Grill (center) is open.

[@kingjerdogg]

He's been robbed 40 times, the community is very tight knit lol

[@chucks_88]

I'm sure they left a thank you note when the left lol

[@scottdavidson526]

I know that was crazy.

[@darlenedunlap8066]

We love our knits💕

[@sharthun2009]

Drugs are baaad, mmmkay!

[@tobiasdog100]

By members of the same family. A couple bad apples spoil the basket.

[@Sephirothxxxxxxxxxxx]

Was just here about a month ago. I didn't realize how much we missed. There was definitely a squatter in one of the places we went inside. Creepy

[@ffjsb]

I don't know what impact the chip plant in New Albany will have, but the average salary is going to be 130K, that would buy a LOT in that area. about an hour and ten minute drive though.

[@Drhumbolt]

Best aphex twin song ever.

[@meatpopsicle1567]

Well, that did not work out very well for the miners. They outsmarted themselves. They went from low pay, to no pay.

[@johnheavener5823]

I live not far from shawnee, township road 226 my whole life bought property next to where i grew up. I used to ride dirt bikes to bnc carry out to fill up. I'll live out there till I die. It's the most peaceful area. I drive to Columbus for work.

[@danielstephens7999]

I lived in New straightsville for yrs would walk to Shawnee on occasion

[@countrysideservicesllc6983]

Is there a place to eat there? I haven't been there since I was a kid 60 years ago. Nice work with the video. Thank you.

[@sharthun2009]

The miners that caught the mine on fire did not quite think the whole process through. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. With that said I love visiting these old mining towns.

[@matthewsteinert1002]

to be honest. the first 15 seconds looked a lot like downtown Sandusky.

[@squarebody8269]

My grandpa also was born there hes now 80

[@pacemetalfab]

Well done.

[@gregkarris6869]

Sometimes, I wish I had all the money so I can restore some of these places so they can become "Living History" destinations for tourists and schools...

[@southeasternohiopicker3317]

they are trying to restore some of the buildings there

[@michaelhurst7748]

I grew in Philo, Ohio, it'd a great place with alot of history. To bad we don't hear anything about the old town if Santoy, Ohio

[@michelewalburn4376]

I want to visit Shawnee so badly.

[@theVHSvlog]

Do it!

[@mikesocleveland794]

I stay in Cleveland and this life style to me is a whole new world like I couldn't imagine everyone in everyone business where I'm from its mind ur own

[@brendajennings2123]

Amazing doc

[@elizapii6520]

I really like this channel! It reminds me of BSF a lot.

[@innerviews897]

robbed 40 times? after the third time you're complicit wear a side arm and have a shotgun under the counter

[@theVHSvlog]

Right? Here's a link to the article talking about it kenyoncollegian.com/features/2016/11/shawnee-ohio-not-just-a-ghost-town/

[@burymedeep-be7dm]

Ohio has a huge heroin problem I'm guessing that's why he's getting robbed.

[@hbarudi]

So there is a centralia, pa like location in ohio? Yet another fossil fuel related catastrophe.

[@maryhahn7595]

Fossil fuels are about at the end cause of our climate change

[@scottdavidson526]

I know we all need to go out and buy $65,000 electric cars.

[@t-dawg61221]

@@scottdavidson526 how about we start holding corporations accountable, gradually stop using petroleum based plastics and kick corporate lobbyist out of D.C., corporations shouldn't be allowed to kill millions and make our like bandit's at the end of the day, greed in minute amounts is healthy, greed unchecked is just pure evil that leaves nothing but a wake of despair and destruction

[@Ronie792]

@@t-dawg61221 how bout we kick the dumb a@$ currant president out of office

[@ripvanrevs]

@@t-dawg61221 Who do you think is going to own all the sunshine and butterflies to run the electric cars? Corporations. Wait until all those 300 foot wind turbines are left rusting in the fields and the used up solar panels are leaching contaminants out at the landfills because the U.S. has no recycle policy on them yet. I say produce all the fossil fuels and all the renewables you can and let the BEST energy win!!

[@MrThenry1988]

Intresting. I've been through the town. I live 60 miles from it.

[@llarzelere]

I remember doing deliveries in Shawnee and New Straitsville in the late 1980's. There was a Shell station and general store where the owner refused to sell me gas one day because it was "too dangerous". When I was back there two weeks later, I could buy all the gas I wanted.

[@josephivan5094]

That's pat Worley not worl I'm from Shawnee . thanks for doing a video of my hometown. I was watching this video to do some research and will probably make a video.

[@gaugebrady5416]

PA there is a mine fire centrellia

[@onrr1726]

Yes but that mine was set on accident when hot ambers fell into a mine shaft while burning trash at the local landfill.. Asshole union people in Ohio set the fire in their town.

[@81licker]

I used to go there during my employment at Children's Services. Yes, this area is very unique.

[@brittanyjackson1718]

Take any kids from poor folks n split up their families did ya?

[@timothyhays7889]

Likens PA. Still burning

[@user-pj3jq1rs6s]

Interesting!

[@ronaldbarton6697]

You should do a video on Corning Ohio! Practically down the road

[@erickellogg8532]

i noticed a couple of oil derricks in the backround

[@rickjames414]

Yea yea old mines.. if you ask around there was more than the mine. If you are over 60 a good chance you worked many years around shawnee and Straitsville. Boils, brick yard, shawnee coal, Seven chimneys and peabody's. Shame its nothing like that now.

[@zacwhite1368]

Love the video and I had to look up what I O of R M was. Improved order of red men fraternity. Thank you for the video and I learned something new today ❤

[@drexel937]

The smart ass remark killed it at the end.. thumb down!

[@theVHSvlog]

Tough scene

[@karlaconroy2099]

Was kinda of an odd ending..

[@cyagley]

This video is one of my favorites. I'd love to know the piano artist and song if you don't mind? It's incredible..

[@pigoff123]

My girlfriend took us there several years ago

[@richardtoellner815]

wow

[@paulrock4816]

Down around Logan Ohio, I ran into an old town made of bricks. the Road/ sidewalk/ even the houses were the same brick. I can't find the place again. Anyone ever heard of this place.

[@theVHSvlog]

No but now I am determined to find out

[@nevinanderson6910]

Place called floodwood that's a abandoned city in the woods around there

[@Zoetropeification]

Paul, you could be thinking of Haydenville. It's just off of route 33 not too far from Logan. Mostly brick and clay tile structures. The main street is asphalt though.

[@katiew87420]

Yep, Haydenville. My grandmas maiden name was Hayden. She was born there.

[@rogercamp6071]

@@Zoetropeification yes I've been through Haydenville a few times,there is an unusual little round house there built from glazed tile block same as most other buildings there,it looks a lot like a grain silo.

[@UrbexDane]

Watch your girl the guy in the flannel is coming 😂. Excellent job with the history stranger.

[@theVHSvlog]

😂 Its good to be back

[@lewisdoherty7621]

The guy in the flannel and his friends are probably worried about getting to their off-road motorcycle spot or, most likely since they are already covered in mud, back home before a cop sees them riding on a highway. I didn't see any license plates or lights. Those are just off-road bikes and no insurance. There is always a game in rural areas to try to figure out where the cops probably aren't and make a run for it with non-street legal equipment.

[@HJCoram]

My grandpa lived there.

[@timberwolfpowler8747]

As coal died communities died. Progress stops for no one.

[@aprilmae274]

I miss it.

[@bethanyleonalemleykottonqu7570]

For some reason I on I been there as a kid. Just don’t remember when

[@ryanboeding1318]

I like those balconies on the old buildings. Too bad places like this become diserted.

[@blazedgamingkr1438]

ahh Shawnee. i live right up the road in bristol. more bars than stores. place sucks. cant imagine anyone actually wanting to move there

[@katwilliams2950]

Is this different than the Shawnee with the University?

[@blazedgamingkr1438]

@@katwilliams2950 definitely doesn't have a university. Has more bars than stores lol

[@katwilliams2950]

@@blazedgamingkr1438 interesting. I toured a school called Shawnee state and it's small but not to the point I'd call it abandoned at all. I guess there are 2 shawnees

[@blazedgamingkr1438]

Yeah, this Shawnee is pretty much that intersection. Most people going through it mainly see that intersection with the train. Drive up the hill and the town shows it's colors, or age for that matter. This Shawnee is very rundown. They closed the factory, Nicofibers and it all really went downhill from there.

[@ripvanrevs]

@@katwilliams2950 Shawnee State is in Portsmouth Ohio.

[@williamhoskins7818]

Cool old town,

[@415mysterio]

Do you have a video of that interview with Joe Blosser I can watch somewhere? He is my great uncle.

[@theVHSvlog]

Yes! That interview is in a video on KZbin by the channel Tales of Southeast Ohio called "New Straitsville Mine Fire." I can't post the link in the comments but if you search for it, it will come up

[@rachelcarson7019]

“Oh way to go, Ohio!” Chrissie Hynde, the Pretenders. So many dirty tales, so little time. 😞

[@deborahchesser7375]

I love that little town, I’d love to open a motorcycle/bicycle shop in town there, maybe bring some more people in to get her revived.👍🇺🇸

[@kimworkman2425]

very interesting video.

[@cindycostello463]

Erie...if not creepy.

[@devonclose2606]

Its really not ive lived there for 3 years.. great small town a lot of great party's lol...

[@jamesnxslewis2875]

I bet there is a Walmart supercenter nearby. They literally kill small towns like this one.

[@ricksadler797]

Should have paid the workers

[@starleneandress9465]

Shawnee is close to my birth place Piqua, Ohio

[@patriciaodom6357]

Love video

[@lydiahalliday6532]

That's crazy how some angry employees made such a disaster by trying to get revenge...what did they think would happen if they set a mine on fire

[@evanseurkamp76]

Lydia Halliday They were fighting for their rights, because they weren’t being treated fairly for their work. Working in the mines was already a disaster itself, many workers often died and where as I’m not sure if this was the case around here I’m sure you’ve heard of coal companies paying their employees in coupons that could only be used in stores where goods were over priced. So yes they might have put themselves out of work but they stopped the coal companies from abusing them and their children. They weren’t after “revenge” they were fighting for their rights

[@lydiahalliday6532]

@@evanseurkamp76 i didn't know that info, makes total sense

[@Hathorr1067]

@@evanseurkamp76 ​ @Lydia Halliday They set the mine on fire because the company hired Chinese workers to work the mine while the workers were on strike. They sent those burning mine carts into the mine while the Chinese workers were inside. I'd say that they were after revenge.

[@evanseurkamp76]

@@Hathorr1067 I have never heard of that before, but that makes sense. And you are right, there was probably some form of revenge involved in it. I don’t think they were trying to get revenge on the Chinese working in the mine though. It might not have been the best thing to do, but people fight back when they are oppressed and being treated unfairly. We’ve seen it happen in history time and time again. Big corporations are constantly a screwing over people and are mainly only focused on making a profit and this is exactly the case here. I do feel bad for anyone who was caught up in this situation, like any immigrant workers the coal company hired after their workers went on strike. But I can’t say I blame the workers for wanting to get back at the coal company for screwing them over and then hiring more immigrant workers to screw over as well.

[@ripvanrevs]

@@Hathorr1067 The mines were set on fire in the night. There was nobody in the mines. The miners actually were sympathetic to the "scabs" as the pay and working conditions were so bad, no person could make a decent living. Wages had been cut from 70 cents a ton to 50 cents a ton. After the "syndicate" of mine owners broke the strike, the workers were reduced to 40 cents a ton.

[@byronsilas5134]

That welcome to Shawnee sign costs more than the whole town is worth, period.....

[@sfse]

This place is one corpse away from being a ghost town!

[@squarebody8269]

Been there many times I live in Logan

[@coltonking474]

I love my home

[@tobiasdog100]

Where's your town? I want to come there to film only the run-down buildings, make fun of the locals and ignore any scenic areas that I'm certain exist in any town in America.

[@alexgonzalez6371]

Who lives there did you talked to somebody?

[@Walruswhale]

i live here. it sucks.

[@justin8894]

Is the fire worse than Centralia, PA?

[@theVHSvlog]

It's larger and deeper but affected less people over a longer period of time. Centralias fire breached the surface in many places almost killing a 12 year old. I visited centralia last month and the hottest coal vent I found was only 113 degrees which is much cooler than what they even 5 years ago. Both the fires are slowly being choked

[@HazelnutEr]

Sad

[@leeturner1838]

load coal!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@angusrumplemeyer1791]

It used to be a very big and booming town with the brick plants and coal mines that presidents stayed there from time to time. Wish I could have seen the town back in its hay day.

[@nrth-ng9sm]

where's the cops when you need them

[@7Steveski]

Unions have a knack for destroying their own jobs.

[@kking5652]

I didn’t know.