Oak Hill Colliery, Duncott, PA
Coal mining at Oak Hill was probably named after the Oak Hill Tract of the Mount Laffee and Oak Hill Estate. Anthracite coal pioneer David W. Brown came to America in 1829 from England. He and his partner, Mr. Daddow, began mining anthracite coal at this location in the 1830s. Other mines came and went, and from 1882 to 1884 Thomas Wren operated an Oak Hill mine here. In 1889 Leisenring & Co. opened Oak Hill Colliery. (These "patch" houses probably date from that time.) Under the Leisenrings, Oak Hill produced a decent amount of coal from all of the veins, but nothing earth shattering. In 1904 Leisenring stepped aside and Oak Hill Coal Co. became the new operator. Over the next two decades, this firm made many improvements although they struggled with underground drainage at times. Pine Hill Coal Company was listed as the operator in the state records from 1923 until February 1, 1943 and Oak Hill reached its peak production figures. That's the date when Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. took over Oak Hill. By that time, the operation was winding down. Coal production continued through the end of World War II from underground, stripping, and remining of culm banks. Some coal was sent to St. Nicholas Breaker for processing. From 1947 until 1950 state mine records show only the breaker operating and, after that, Oak Hill disappeared from the mine reports altogether. This Oak Hill is not to be confused with another Oak Hill Colliery that was near Scranton.
