Lattimer Colliery was opened by Pardee Bros. & Co. circa 1872 on a lease from Black Breek Improving Co. (The Pardee name features prominently in Hazleton area mining history, and
a company descended from the Pardee family's mining operations still exists in the 21st Century.) The Mammoth and Wharton veins were mined at Lattimer in the 1870s and '80s. In 1891, the Lattimer Mines
were connected with the new Jeddo Tunnel that drained water from area anthracite coal mines. There was more than one breaker at Lattimer. Some burned and were replaced, and others were rebuilt with more
modern technology. Later on, the Primrose and Gamma veins were also opened for extraction. In 1937, after at least 65 years of ownership by Pardee Bros. & Co., the new operator of Lattimer mines became Lattimer Coal Corp.
In additon to the deep mine, Lattimer Coal also stripped and remined the culm banks at Lattimer and cleaned other companies' coal in their breaker. This continued through World War II until Lattimer Coal sold the Lattimer operations to Hydrotated Anthracite Fuel Co. on September 1, 1947. (Lattimer Coal Co. continued to mine coal on the other side of Hazleton at the ancient Humboldt mines.) By 1953, Greenwood Mining Co. was operating the old Lattimer deep mines, which they finally wound down in 1954.
April 2025 image by author
Former company store at Lattimer Mines, Pa. On the left was a meat market, on the right was the company offices,
and in the middle was the company store. At the time of this photo, the building housed the Lattimer post office and a dog grooming business.
The coal company later built an office building to the front left of this structure, which I failed to photograph.
April 2025 image by author
Some of the remaining coal company "patch" houses at Lattimer.
Alas, Lattimer won't be remembered for being one of the most productive mining operations in the Hazleton area (which it was), but for being the location of an organized labor tragedy.
The hauting photo above shows a group of striking miners who had recently immigrated to Pennsylvania from Eastern Europe marching to Lattimer on September 10, 1897. One of them is obviously carrying an American flag as if to say, "We love America, too." It was probably also an appeal to the local populations to not judge them through the lens of ethnic prejudice. Apparently, the area had already been experiencing labor uprisings in the previous weeks due to
dissatisfaction with wages and working conditions. The march began at the Harwood patch town on the other side of Hazleton. Pardee Bros. & Co. became aware that the pro-union march was headed for their Lattimer operations. In a panic, they appealed to local law enforcement to assist in stopping the march. The sheriff and his henchmen ended up fatally shooting 19 of the unarmed strikers, many in the back. Many more were injured by the shooting, but survived.
A trial was held, and the sheriff and his deputies were acquitted of all charges, putting a stain on the justice system in Luzerne County that did not fade for many years.
