AUDUBON COUNTY TODAY. (CONT'D)
FUEL.
The important matter of fuel, in the consideration of the advantages of any particular locality, is here so plentiful that residents hardly feel the expense of laying in the yearly supply. Oak and hickory timber is found in considerable
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tracts withn our borders, and may be purchased as cheaply as in any locality where it is marketable as a commodity. Accessible to the rich coal beds of central Iowa, soft coal is sold at from $3.60 to $4.00 per ton, and being of excellent quality proves very economical. Wood, however, at prevailing prices, is yet more economical, but tho' it may be had in plenty, is little used. The second growth of these timbers make fuel of splendid fiber which burns with intensity almost equal to coal. It is delivered here, dry, at $4.00 per cord, with a considerable reduction when green. Anthracite coal is brought here from the same fields that are tributary to all part os Iowa, and at a price equally as low as in any part of Iowa. When bought advantageously and at the proper season it may be secured at $9.00 per ton.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, AUDUBON.
The prospects for coal within the borders of our county amount virtually to a promise of rich reward to the enterprise that shall be established for mining the black diamond. In the early days the pioneers found an inferior coal formation on the surface of the banks of the Nishnabotnas which was used quite extensively for heating purposes, and the same formation of still better quality has been found below the surface in several places. But none of this may be relied upon to furnish any considerable quantity. The demands of the county for coal could only be supplied by delving to a depth of from five to seven hundred feet, where an inexhaustible supply lies buried, awaiting the miner's pick. This fact has been demonstrated to the complete satisfaction of our people, and it is only a question of time when the enterprise will be prosecuted. The services of a
AUDUBON COUNTY BANK BLOCK, AUDUBON.
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COMMERCIAL BANK AND REPUBLICAN OFFICE, AUDUBON.
gentleman whose life has been devoted to the solutio of the earth's geological problems were recently secured, by the authority which publishes this pamphlet, to study the surface features of the county, and render a bona fide opinion as to whether or not coal could be found in paying quantities. He came, and with the intelligence orf experience n the field, and assured us that at a depth above designated the desired article could be found in paying quantities and of superior quality. This opinion was not speculation, but is based on accurate knowledge of the formation of the earth, whereby he is enabled to trace the coal veins as they extend through county after county. The depth at which it lies only effects the first cost of establishing the plant, as that of mining afterwards is very little increased on that account. Already the project has been taken under consideration by local authorities, and it is safe to say that a company will be formed in the near future to develop this very valuable resource, when coal can be had in the county at the slight expense of mining.
M'FARLANE, DICKEY & CO., IMPLEMENTS, AUDUBON.
It is quite unnecessary to speak of the special advantage that this will afford to settlers, and how materially it will reduce their annual expense account. Fuel in even the most salubrious locality is an important item in the cost of living, and where that may be reduced to a minimum there is a place possessed of one of the chiefest advantages. While fuel may now be had at a comparatively low rate the prospects of which we have spoken is promise of as low prices as may be had in any of the states of this grand union.
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 Transcribed February, 2025 by Cheryl Siebrass from History of Audubon and Audubon County, Iowa,
The Eden of the West., 1887, pp. 12-14.
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