The Darr Mine, at Van Meter, was the site of one of the worst coal mining disasters in the United States. On December 19, 1907 a gas and dust explosion killed 239 coal miners in the dark tunnels of the Darr Mine. An inquiry into the disaster afterwards concluded, as was usually the case in that period of Pennsylvania coal mining, that the Pittsburgh Coal Company was not at fault. The explosion was presumed to have occurred in an area that the Fire Boss had cordoned off, but a group of miners had entered anyway carrying open lamps. This finding was not accepted by all involved: a number of those investigating the disaster could not agree on exactly where the explosion occurred. Secondly, the company permitted the use of open lamps in the mine, a practice it abandoned after the horrible events of December 19th, 1907, at the Darr Mine. This was just a couple of weeks after the Monongah disaster.