Branchdale, Pennsylvania & Otto Colliery
Anthracite coal mining at Branchdale, in Reilly Township, dates back to the 1830s when Martin Weaver opened the first mine. However, Branchdale (sometimes spelled Branch Dale) is best known as home of Otto Colliery. Otto Colliery began production circa 1840. By 1870, Cain, Hacker & Cook were operating Otto Nos. 1 and 2 of Otto Colliery. A gentleman named William Kendrick gave operating Otto Colliery a try in 1872. In 1873 the mighty Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Co. became the owner and operator of Otto Colliery. No production was reported for 1874, perhaps due to P&R dewatering sections of the mines and improving the infrastructure. Coal was again being shipped from Otto in 1875 and, by 1877, production had tripled. Both red ash coal (easier to ignite) and white ash coal (burns hotter and longer) were produced. The main Otto mines were for a time known as the Red Ash mines. No. 2 was White Ash, and was flooded in the late 1870s and early '80s before being brought back online in 1884. For the rest of the 19th century, Otto reported good coal production numbers except for 1887, when a fire shut the colliery down for part of the year. A new breaker was constructed in 1900. By 1908, there were four slope portals, two drift portals, and one shaft feeding the Otto breaker. Industrial activity continued on for many more years, with coal produced from all of the important anthracite seams such as Holmes, Diamond, Mammoth, Primrose, and Buck Mountain. In 1931, Philadelphia and Reading suspended Otto coal production but continued to operate the breaker (washery). Coal was mined at Otto for the last time in 1932, followed by operating the breaker for one more year. Then nearly a century of Otto Colliery coal production came to an end (until the strippers came in later in the 20th century).
