Sutton Alaska: A History of Coal Mining

Sutton is surrounded by mountains, the picture to the right here showing a typical autumn day with the snow hanging low over the mountains underneath a cloud dotted blue sky.

Sutton had at one time been a coal mining town and you can still find the remains of those mines scarring the land in the hills behind the town. We drove up there a few years ago, following old roads that once saw trucks loaded with coal. It is a stop I would like to get the time to make when I am on my way through, to walk around and study the area, get pictures of the landscape and think back to walking along listening to my mom talk about the things that she had read about the area.

Mom loved to read about Alaska's history, particularly the gold mining, but she had read a considerable amount about the Sutton area as well. Me and her had made jokes about maybe finding diamonds in the old coal beds in Sutton, it would be nice, to walk along and find a diamond the size of a dove egg. I don't know if there are any diamonds in those coal beds, I doubt it or I would have heard about it I think. Would be seeing Sutton Diamond Jewelery for sale everywhere in the area. But dreams, rather of days past or of jewelry, are something that a person needs. Things to hold onto, physical or mental, that are precious. And now that I have thoughts of Golomn and the One Ring flitting through my head, I think I'll get back to talking about Sutton. LOL

I think the most precious thing in Sutton is memories. Of a warm summer day, my dad sitting in the jeep talking to my sister as me and mom walked along looking for rocks. We're rock hounds, her and I. It does not matter if the rock is precious or just a sex stone, we tend to pick up rocks and examine them. The history they hold, the weathering they have undergone. Every rock tells a story, a history of this world and the area where the rock comes from. Only a rock hound understands how that goes, how it feels to find a rock that truly speaks of the area and its history.

I have a bit of coal in my rock case that me and mom picked up in Sutton. A treasure of no value save the history of that stone. Which is not really a stone, but the history is no less significant - or the memories it stirs.

Yes, Sutton is a stop I will have to make as I head out on my road trip.