Saint-Louis Coal Mine

The Saint-Louis Coal Mine (nicknamed the "Grand Puits") is one of the main shafts at the Ronchamp coal mines in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. Located in the hamlet of La Houillère, in the commune of Champagney, it was the first real mine shaft to be dug in the Ronchamp coalfield. It was the most productive coal mine in the Ronchamp coalfield during the first half of the 19th century. On 10 April 1824, this shaft also experienced the first firedamp explosion in the coalfield, which killed twenty people and injured sixteen others. Later, on 31 May 1830, a second, even more deadly, firedamp explosion killed twenty-eight people. The pit was finally abandoned and backfilled in 1842. A mining estate was built next to the pit in the 1850s. After closure, one of the buildings was preserved as a casino and ballroom before being demolished in the 1980s.