100 stories from the hiking route

1931 – a shale oil factory started working in Kohtla

Information

Topic

Village life and society work

Coordinates

Long-Lat WGS 84

Latitude: 59.3519734

Longitude: 27.1709594

L-EST 97

x: 6583586.8
y: 680321.9

Location

Kauksi-Aegviidu Hiking route

The Kohtla-Nõmme that we know was founded in 1931 by the English company New Consolidated Gold Fields Ltd, who started working with oil shale there. They built a pyrolysis factory to produce shale oil from oil shale and later also an oil shale mine. An architect was hired to design this English style settlement. Kohtla-Nõmme got a gorgous office building for the mine, a mansion for the oil manufacturer William Dunn and quarters for the workers built in timber framing style.
In 1931, the first Estonian golf course was built to Kohtla-Nõmme. It became popular with the Englishmen working in the factory as well as Estonian office workers. Heinrich Kruup remembers:

"We, the boys, liked to hang out in the pines beside the green, where every now and then a ball would stray, so that we could put in our pocket and sneak off. When the balls started dissappearing too often, then the english hire some boys for a a few dozen cents, to keep an eye out, so that no-one would nick their balls. One of these ballboys was Voldemar Saat, who sometimes ‘forgot’ some balls in his own pocket."

In 1940, Gold Fields Ltd produced 10,900 tonnes of oil. In the same year, the oil factory was nationalised. In 1941, the destruction battalion burned down Dunn’s mansion and more than half of the houses in the settlement. After its restoration, the Kohtla shale oil factory worked until 1961 and the underground mine until 2001.

Around 100 people worked in the mining department. In 1938, a rail steam excavator with a clamshell of 1.5 m3 was purchased to the mine. Wagonettes with a capacity of 0.5 tonnes to 1 tonne were used for transportation. They were first heaved by horses, but after 1938, they were switched to diesel trains. Underground, workers sorted oil shale, loaded it on the wagonettes, and stacked limestone by hand.
Besides the oil shale factory, the production complex also had a grinder, a laboratory, a power station, an office, support buildings, quarters for 30 workers, a first aid centre, and a sauna.

Sources:
Bobrov, A., Holtsmann, J., Kaljurand, H., and others. 2010. Ida-Virumaa pärandkultuurist.
Eesti golfiajalugu sai alguse Kohtla-Nõmmel. Virumaa Teataja. 122. 29 June 2016
Kattai, V. 2003. Põlevkivi-õlikivi.
Kiristaja, R., Rannus, M. 2008. Kohtla kaevandus. Suuroja, K. (editor) 90 aastat põlevkivi kaevandamist Eestis.
Rooden, J. 2008. Kohtla vaimne eluruum I.