Editing Chatham County, North Carolina (section)

===Coal mining===
Spanning the southern border of Chatham County, the [[Deep River Coal Field]] contains the only known potentially economic [[bituminous coal]] deposits in the state. Coal was mined here on an artisan scale in colonial times. It was commercially produced beginning from the early 1850s.

The communities of [[Carbonton, North Carolina|Carbonton]] and [[Cumnock, North Carolina|Cumnock]] (formerly called Egypt in Lee County) developed with the coal mining industry. Much of the coal mined in the field during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] was used for [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] operations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/nchistory/may2005/ |title=Carolina Coal Company Mine Explosion, Coal Glen, North Carolina |date=May 2005 |access-date=August 7, 2014 |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808055700/http://www2.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/nchistory/may2005/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Coal Glen mine disaster]] of the 1920s, frequent flooding by the Deep River, the depth of the coal seam, and faulting of the seam sealed the fate of the mines. Production ceased in 1953.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reinemund |first=John A. |year=1955 |title=Geology of the Deep River Coal Field North Carolina |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0246/report.pdf |access-date=September 30, 2023 |publisher=[[United States Department of the Interior]] |page=18 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118171700/https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0246/report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NC Mineral Resources – An Overview |url=https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/energy-mineral-land-resources/north-carolina-geological-survey/mineral-resources/mineral-resources-faq |access-date=September 30, 2023 |website=North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality |archive-date=September 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928220506/https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/energy-mineral-land-resources/north-carolina-geological-survey/mineral-resources/mineral-resources-faq |url-status=live }}</ref>