Cross Mountain Miners' Circle

The Cross Mountain Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion that occurred on December 9, 1911 near the community of Briceville, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. In spite of a well-organized rescue effort led by the newly created Bureau of Mines, 84 miners died as a result of the explosion. The likely cause of the explosion was the ignition of dust and gas released by a roof fall. At least 22 of the miners killed in the Cross Mountain Mine disaster were buried in a circular memorial known as the Cross Mountain Miners' Circle, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.