Possum Ridge mine, or Taylor 5, has its shaft in Freeman Spur, in the southeast corner of section 32, Denning Township, Franklin County. The village is officially a part of Williamson County. Some of the original coal lands for the mine, long since worked out, ran south into Herrin Township.
Southern Illinois Coal Mines sank the shaft at Possum Ridge about 1908. This company was financed in Boston, and was an affiliate of American Woolen Mills. The mine was added to Herbert Taylor’s properties at Energy in August 1914.
Patrick H. Carroll was mine superintendent at that time. Taylor 5 is still operated by Mr. Taylor’s company (in 1939).
(Extracted from Pioneer Folks and Places, Barbara Barr Hubbs, 1939 which is on sale at the Williamson County Museum)