Praco Mines Decay

Praco-(Pratt Consolidated Coal Company) Was a large coal mining town
located in West Jefferson County. Originally established by the Pratt Consolidated Coal Company in the early 1900's it was first known as the Skelton Creek Mines and later renamed Praco.
Pratt Consolidated was purchased by the Alabama By-Products Corporation
in the mid 1920's.
At one time as many as 10 underground coal mines were operating at Praco
and by the 1940's there were just a few. After a major fire destroyed the
wooden tipple and many buildings in 1940 ABC completely rebuilt Praco with
modern concrete and steel structures. Praco was one of the company's
largest underground coal mining operations until it was shut down in the
late 1950's due to the newer Maxine Mine being opened a few miles southwest. The Praco Mines were serviced by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad's Birmingham Mineral Division in the early years along it's Cain Creek Branch Line running from Tarrant in Birmingham. Later L&N took
over handling of transporting coal.
Today all that remains are a few concrete structures decaying in the woods.