195.1110.4

Debris next to the old slag pile that is all that remains today [1997] at the site of the second Summit Coal Mine located near the Chicago & Northwestern Railway tracks three miles northeast of Gilbert, Iowa, and southwest of Story City, Iowa. The coal mine was located a mile south of the road where the railroad track crosses Highway 69. This mine opened in 1923. By June, 1924, the Summit Mine was reported to be in full production with 50 men employed full time, and an expectation that the number of employees would soon reach 400. The new mine was being described as potentially being Story County's "second largest employer," with the mine bringing new residents to the Gilbert and Ames communities. Twenty-five residents of Ames became stockholders. The mine opened for abour four years when it was forced to cease operations because of the equipment's inability to pump water from the shafts fast enough. Coal mining in the Gilbert area came to a close in 1928.