Phoenix Park, PA

Phoenix Park Colliery

Coal mining began in the 1850s. There was labor unrest involving the Molly Maguires at Phoenix Park in the 1860s. Also, sixteen miners crashed to their death when the hoisting cable pulling them to the surface snapped on July 23, 1864. There was originally a Phoenix Park No. 1 and No. 2. In 1873, Lloyd & Glover were operating Phoenix Park No. 3. A very small production was mined from Phoenix Park No. 4 by James O. Malley in 1874. By that time, Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Co. had started operating No. 1 and 2. They closed No. 1 and began producting from Phoenix Park Nos. 2 & 3 in the 1870s. Philadelphia & Reading abandoned the No. 2 works in 1884 and began reporting production only from No. 3. The breaker was upgraded and No. 2 reopened for one year in 1894. Phoenix Park No. 3 morphed into Phoenix Park Colliery with different slope and shaft portals. Longtime Phoenix Park superintendent John Veith opened his own colliery next door in 1904. Five underground stables were installed in 1912. After many decades of anthracite coal mining, Philadelphia & Reading closed Phoenix Park in 1927. Smaller operators, such as Phoenix Coal Co. and Slane & Frantz Coal Co., mined at Phoenix Park in later years.

March 2026 image by author These company houses were originally known as Cornish Row. This is probably because the miners living in these houses came from the Cornwall section of England. At one time, they were all duplexes. Two of the remaining homes are half houses (the other half of the duplex has been removed). On the hill above still stands a few of the foremens' houses, which I failed to document.
March 2026 image by author The houses were likely built by Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co.
March 2026 image by author Patriotic displays like this are common in Pennsylvania coal towns.
2020 image by Marlena Beach Flynn A remaining mine entry in the Phoenix Park area.