EMERALD MINES - GREENE COUNTY, PA
The Emerald Mine opened near Clarksville, Pa. in 1921. (It is not the same Emerald Mine as the one near Waynesburg that operated from the coal boom days of 1977 to the coal bust days of 2015.) Here is a photo of all that's left of the Emerald Mine tipple. When the railroad was removed and a bike trail put in it's place, most of the tipple was
demolished. But this portion going down to the barge loadout on the Monongahela River remains.
When a tornado destroyed much of the original patch housing for the Emerald Mine in 1944, Emerald Coal and Coke built the Burson patch, shown here, to house the miners and their families. (Thanks to Greene County
coal historian Lonnie Miller for the information.)
Braden was another section of company-built housing for employees of the Emerald Mine, and was one of the last coal company towns to be constructed in Pennsylvania.
SOME OF THE LAST COAL COMPANY TOWNS TO BE BUILT IN APPALACHIA
1940-Marianna, WV
1942-Republic, KY
1944-Burson/Braden, PA
1945-Maryland No. 2 / Wilmore Heights, PA
1946-Raven-Peerless Mine, Nicholas County, WV
1945-Wharton, WV
1947-Munson, WV
1947-Keokee, VA (reconstructed)
1947-Lynco, WV
1947-Barrett & Clinton, WV
1952-New Camp (Pound), VA (only 10 houses for management)
1952-Robin Hood Mine, Boone County, WV (houses for management)
Another section of Emerald Mine housing is called Chartiers Hill. These coal company houses are probably older than Burson and Braden.
A Norfolk-Southern train winds past the spot where the Edwards shaft of the Emerald mine used to be located. Later this was known as the Gateway mine,
and produced coal into the 1980s.
View of the Braden housing development.
Aerial photo showing the arrangement of Emerald Mine housing.
From the Aug. 26, 1975 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "...There is more coal mining activity in Greene County than ever before in its
hisotry," says Stephen McCann, executive vice president of the Western Pennsylvania Coal Operators Association and a resident of
Carmichaels. "From 1975 to 1985, under present plans, it is believed there will be in the neighborhood of eight new mines opening up," says
McCann. Total coal production and employemtn in the mines are both expected to double in the next 15 years, he adds. That would mean about 5,000
more mining jobs. What caused the big resurgence in interest in Greene County coal? "This is the largest reserve field of underground coal in the
eastern U.S.," McCann says, pointing on a map to an area that includes all of Greene County and the southern half of Washington County. Big steel
and coal companies have owned coal rights that weren't exercised until now because lower sulfur coal was available, and in many cases, it was closer
to the Monongahela River ..."
Jun. 2004 image by author
Mar. 2003 image by author
Mar. 2003 image by author
Google Street View image
Mar. 2003 image by author
Mar. 2003 image by author
Bing Maps image