On Friday, September 24th, 1926, a disaster occurred at the Pabst Mine when "G" Shaft, located approximately 300 yards southwest of this spot, collapsed. Three men riding in the cage freefell 2,600 feet, and forty-three men were trapped on the 8th level, 727 feet below the surface. Five days later, 7,000 people gathered here to watch the rescue of all forty-three men from the "Worst mine disaster of the century."