Point Loma’s Forgotten Coal Mine

San Diego Weird History

Point Loma’s Forgotten Coal Mine—and the Legend That Grew Around It

Point Loma usually brings a familiar picture to mind: the lighthouse, the Pacific, ships entering San Diego Bay and a view worth stopping for. A coal mine probably does not appear anywhere in that picture.

Yet in the 1850s, entrepreneurs tried to turn part of the peninsula into a source of fuel. They leased land, organized a company and dug into the western slope. The enterprise failed to become the industry its backers imagined, but it left behind something surprisingly durable: stories about a mysterious “Mormon Mine.”

The mine was real. Some of the explanations attached to it deserve a closer look.

A Business Venture Recorded in City Documents

San Diego’s surviving trustee records place the undertaking firmly in November 1855. The minutes record a lease signed on November 22 for forty acres near Point Loma’s Pacific coast, for a term of fifteen years.

The stated purpose was to open and work a coal mine. That is a useful starting point because it moves the story beyond a remembered hole in the ground. There was an authorized business proposal behind the digging.

Forty acres and a fifteen-year term also suggest the scale of the intention. The investors were seeking room and time to develop a resource, even though a lease could not establish what the underground conditions would allow.

Why the “Mormon Mine” Name Stuck

Bradley Hill’s study in the Journal of San Diego History identifies the venture as the San Diego Coal Company and dates its start to November 1855. Its founders were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

One was Ephraim Green, a former Mormon Battalion soldier. Hill reports that Green later claimed to have noticed coal on Point Loma before his military discharge in 1847.

That connection helps explain how two different moments could become compressed into one story: an earlier reported observation and the later organized mining venture. Saying the battalion operated this company’s mine in 1847 would erase that distinction.

The more precise version is interesting enough. A former soldier returned to an opportunity he remembered, and other investors joined the effort years later.

San Diego Was Looking for an Economic Breakthrough

The History Center’s study “Merchants and Dons” places the mine within the unsettled economic ambitions of 1850s San Diego. Its account describes earlier reports of coal, followed by the organized Point Loma venture and hopes for a substantial discovery.

Those hopes did not translate into the expected success. The study says the company worked the mine for about two years, employing miners from San Diego and elsewhere. Other discoveries also attracted attention, and another venture, the Pacific Coal Company, formed but quickly failed.

This broader context matters. The Point Loma project was part of an effort to find a viable economic future for the town. The peninsula was being considered as a working resource, rather than solely as scenery.

Finding Coal Was Not the Same as Making a Mine Work

Richard Pourade’s historical account in The Silver Dons describes exploratory digging that passed through thin coal seams before reaching a thicker one. It also describes the need to keep pumping water out of the workings.

That practical problem is central to the story. A promising material underground still had to be reached, extracted and handled under workable conditions. Water imposed another demand on the operation.

Pourade reports that no significant quantities were removed and that the mine was abandoned. Later accounts do not agree on every detail of the workings or output, so claims about a thriving coal business should be treated cautiously.

The surviving story supports an ambitious attempt. It does not support imagining Point Loma as a successful mining district.

The Shaft Outlasted the Company

The National Park Service’s historical study Shadows of the Past describes the company’s unsuccessful development effort during 1856–57 and the departure of its leaders for Salt Lake City in November 1857.

The same study says the shaft remained open until 1960, when the location was developed for Atlas missile testing facilities. It connects the later land use with the Point Loma wastewater treatment plant.

That sequence is remarkable: a nineteenth-century fuel venture, a surviving shaft and twentieth-century technological uses occupying the same broader landscape. Point Loma’s history includes repeated attempts to put its geography to work.

A Story to Take to Point Loma, Not a Mine to Explore

This is historical context for a visit to the peninsula, not directions to an accessible mine attraction. Do not use old descriptions of a shaft or shoreline opening as a route, or enter restricted property looking for remains.

For a public outing, start with Cabrillo National Monument’s visitor information. Check current hours, entry fees, parking and alerts before traveling. Explore the places the park actually makes available to visitors.

Then consider the less familiar landscape behind the famous views: land that entrepreneurs once hoped would supply coal, long before today’s visitor itinerary took shape.

Nancy’s Vacation Rentals has helped guests explore San Diego for more than 25 years. We love the overlooked stories that add another dimension to a familiar destination. Browse Nancy’s San Diego vacation rentals and leave time to discover a little more of the city’s unexpected past.

Sources and Further Reading

• City of San Diego: Historical trustee minutes, including the November 1855 coal lease
• Bradley Hill: The San Diego Coal Company—An Early Mormon Enterprise on Point Loma
• Journal of San Diego History: Merchants and Dons
• Richard Pourade: The Silver Dons, Chapter 11
• National Park Service historical study: Shadows of the Past
• Cabrillo National Monument: Current visitor information