WESTERN MIDDLE ANTHRACITE COALFIELD
Northumberland, Schuylkill, and Columbia Counties
St. Nicholas was named after the existing patch town and colliery that was at this location that predated the central breaker's construction in 1931. St. Nicholas was a decent sized coal village, but was gradually destroyed through the 20th century. Only a handful of houses and a church remain.
Many words have been written over the years about the mine fire at Centralia, Pa. But what coal mines were located there? Centralia was a boro, not a company town. However,
Centralia Colliery was located at the eastern edge of town, and Hazel Dell Colliery to the south east. Further east was the Continental mine. Logan Colliery was on the western side of Centralia.
A tunnel was driven through the various mines in the Centralia area in 1890s to drain area mines into Big Mine Run. This predated the construction of the more well known Jeddo Tunnel in the neighboring Eastern Middle Anthracite Coalfield the next year.
The first mines in the Centralia vicinity opened in the 1850s. They were the Locust Run Mine and Coal Ridge Mine.
Sources vary from 1857 to 1862 as to when Joseph M. Freck opened Centralia Colliery. Freck was the operator until the early 1870s, when the mine flooded. The breaker burned in 1870 and had to be rebuilt. After several years of being inundated with little to no production,a Dr. G.M. Provost bought the colliery, pumped and drained the water, and by 1878 coal was being mined again. Provost sold Centralia Colliery to Lewis A. Reilly (sometimes spelled Louis and Riley) in 1880. Except for 1881, when it was operated as Reilly, Lilley, & Lentz, this colliery was under the Lewis A. Reilly & Co. banner until the mid-1890s. Lehigh Valley Coal Co. purchased Centralia Colliery from Reilly and mined anthracite coal through underground and stripping methods into the early 1930s. At the bottom of the Great Depression, Centralia Colliery may have been idled. Centralia Collieries Co. brought it back to life in 1935, and ran it for a few years. During World War 2, Mahahony Coal Mining Co. was the operator. By the end of the war, Centralia Colliery was getting rather old. Centralia Mining Co. took over and deep and strip mined, sometimes cleaning the coal at other nearby and more modern breakers. The culm banks were remined. The tiny C.Q. & W. Coal Co. mined in the area in 1949 and processed their coal in the aging Centralia breaker. In 1955, the property was leased to Coates Coal Co., and they took Centralia Colliery to its end in 1962, ending a century of anthracite coal mining. Also toward the end, George Racho remined a small tonnage of coal from the Centralia culm dump in 1960 and processed it at nearby Diamond Breaker.
To the south of Centralia Colliery was Hazel Dell Colliery, which was opened circa 1860 (sources vary from 1855 to 1862). Landowner Locust Mountain Coal & Iron Co. leased the land and mineral rights to Robert Gorrell. By 1873, it was operated as Gorrell & Norton. Groundwater inundation plagued the Centralia mines around 1875 and '76 and Hazel Dell was no exception. In the late 1870s, George Troutman took over the mines and brought production numbers back up. At this time, state mine records show a Hazel Dell East and Hazle Dell West. Sykes & Jones were the next operators in the mid 1880s. Lewis Reilly (also known as Riley) & Co., owners of Centralia Colliery, operated Hazle Dell from 1886 to 1889, when the underground works were merged with Centralia Colliery and the breaker demolished. Someone named Kaul & Hall did the clean up work and last mining in 1890. You would think that would be the end of the Hazle Dell story, but almost 70 years later a small firm named Debbie Lance Coal Co. produced a small tonnage of coal from Hazel Dell slope portal in 1959 and '60.
Out past Centralia Colliery to the east, the Continental Colliery opened in 1863 by Robert Gorrell, also the owner of Hazel Dell. Gorrell had Continental until J.T. Audenreid became the operator in 1878. In 1882, Lehigh Valley Coal Co. made Audenreid an offer he couldn't refuse, and they mined and shipped anthracite coal from Continental Colliery into the early 20th century. Hazle Brook Coal Co. took over in the 1930s, and they produced large amounts of tonnage by underground and surface methods. Hazle Brook closed the underground Continental mines in 1954. Then Sanchez Coal Co. strip mined the Continental reserves from 1956 to 1965. After Lehigh Valley Anthracite Co. stripped in 1965 and '66, a century of coal mining at Continental ended.
Finally, to the west of Centralia Boro could be found Logan Colliery and "patch town." Lewis Reilly & Co. (again) opened Logan in 1881. In the 1890s, Lehigh Valley Coal Co. became the operator (just like nearby Centralia and Continental Collieries). Lehigh Valley produced anthracite coal from Logan Colliery into the late 1920s. It wasn't until M.A. Hanna Co. started stripping the Logan reserves in 1948 that Logan produced any tonnage. Hanna's stripping lasted until 1958. Small strippers like C. Howansky & Paul Auskas and Paul Kerrigan completed the strip mining of Logan in the early 1960s. There never were a huge amount of company houses - perhaps only ten - and the Logan patch gradually disintegrated into nothing by the early 21st century.
Buck Ridge Colliery was a property of Philadelphia and Reading Coal & Iron Co. in the late 1800s. It was abandoned in 1900. In 1903 Buck Ridge Coal Mining Co. leased the property and opened Buck Ridge No. 1 & 2 mines. Buck Ridge Coal Mining was incorporated in 1911, and finally bought the Buck Ridge property outright in 1923. Not long after, the firm was mired in legal troubles. The next operator of Buck Ridge was Puritan Coal Mining Co. Finally, Junior Coal Co. wound down Buck Run's operations with small production for local consumption in 1931-32.
Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. opened Maple Hill Colliery in 1892. When it was new, the state said, "This we consider a
model anthracite colliery, both as regards inside and outside equipment." Maple Hill coal was processed at its own breaker until the St. Nicholas Central Breaker was constructed next door to process coal for all of Philadelphia & Reading's mines in the Mahanoy City area. In the 1930s, Maple Hill fed the most coal into St. Nicholas. From 1939 and off and on through the 1940s, the Maple Hill culm bank was also remined. P & R C & I ceased Maple Hill production in 1954 just before the company changed its name to Reading Anthracite.
In 1883, some of the workers of the old Buck Mountain mine came to the Mahanoy City area to open a new Buck Mountain mine. Buck Mountain Colliery was operated by Buck Mountain Coal Co. until 1889. Mill Creek Coal Co. was the next operator of Buck Mountain beginning in 1890. In the summer of 1897, new company houses were constructed. The houses shown above may date from that time. Also, the "coal houses" where the company deposited coal for the mining families to use were rebuilt away from the older company houses due to being a fire hazard. The older company houses were also repainted. Mill Creek continued to mine at Buck Mountain into the new century. An explosion in Buck Mountain mine killed seven workers on November 9, 1900. By 1908-09, drainage in the Buck Mountain mines had become very bad, exacerbated by a drainage tunnel built in the neighboring Park Place mines. Lehigh Valley Coal Co. took over Buck Mountain in 1910 and improved mine drainage conditions. L.V. also began construction of a new breaker that would serve both Buck Mountain and nearby Vulcan Colliery, both of which they purchased from Mill Creek C.C. In 1914, "extensive repairs" were made to the patch houses. Lehigh Valley continued the Buck Mountain operations for many more years, including some years that saw organized labor strife.
Morea, Pennsylvania
Dodson Coal Co. opened Morea Colliery in 1888 and shipped the first coal in 1889. The railroad was extended from neighboring New Boston. Production was large from the Buck Mountain, Seven Foot, Skidmore, and thrice-split Mammoth veins. In the summer of 1900, Dodson idled the Morea mines while they renovated the breaker. In addition to underground coal production, Dodson began stripping operations circa 1905. In 1912, Dodson built an underground hospital similar to the one that can still be seen at the Lansford No. 9 mine. After many years of good anthracite coal production, Dodson Coal Co. turned Morea Colliery over to Mill Creek Coal Co. in 1918. After Mill Creek added Morea to their portfolio of mines, the made many improvments. For at time in the 1920s, Madeira Hill Coal Co. ran Morea. Morea Colliery continued to prosper and employed 500 miners at the bottom of the Great Depression in 1932. Morea Coal Co. became the new owner (and also of neighboring New Boston) in 1937. Even after so many years of mining, Morea Colliery produced great volumes of coal into the 1940s. In 1940, Morea-New Boston Coal Corp. became the operator. Morea Colliery's own production declined after World War 2 and the breaker began to process coal for other companies. In 1949, Morea Mining Company was a new operator of Morea Colliery. Under this firm, underground production finally ended, some stripping took place, and the breaker continued to clean coal for a variety of other companies. Weston Coal Co. stripped coal at Morea from 1953 to 1956. Peca Coal Co. bought or leased the Morea breaker in the early 1960s. Then Morea Colliery closed for good. The breaker was still standing in the '70s, and even the skeletal structure was reported to be in existence as late as 1988.
Beaverdale and Reliance Shaft
Reliance Colliery near Mt. Carmel in Northumberland County was opened in 1866 or '67. Thomas Baumgardner and Co. operated Reliance on a lease from Mount Carmel Locust Mountain Coal Co. In 1873 Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Co. purchased the land and coal but kept Baumgardner & Co. on as the operator until 1878. From 1879 until 1953, Philadelphia & Reading owned and operated Reliance Colliery. After 1930, Reliance coal was sent to the nearby Locust Summit Central Breaker for cleaning and processing.
A sad report from 1884: "John Danko, slate-picker, seriously injured on February 26, 1884, in Reliance colliery breaker, by being crushed between
counter-screen and frame, receiving injuries from which he died shortly
after. Deceased was employed picking slate at counter-screen; feeling
cold, he got a piece of sheet-iron to cover a hole which was on side of
breaker near where he was sitting. In his efforts to cover the hole with
the piece of sheet-iron, he fell in between the counter-screen and the frame,
receiving injuries which caused his death in about three quarters of an
hour after."
Locustdale, Pennsylvania and Locust Summit Breaker area
Locustdale is a coal company town located where Northumberland, Schuylkill, and Columbia Counties converge. It was home to the Locust Dale Colliery, later known as the Potts Colliery. George H. Potts, who operated other anthracite mines, opened the mine at Locustdale in 1853 (some sources say 1857). The earliest installation of a steam-driven ventilating fan, in the mid-1850s, was at this location. George Potts continued to be the operator until 1872. That year Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Co. became the operators and would remain so until the end. The fact that part of Potts/Locustdale mine had been on fire for years did not deter P&R. A second slope portal was opened in 1874. Potts Colliery was a medium-sized producer until 1885, when the mine fires could no longer be ignored and the underground works were flooded. Potts was idled for the rest of the 1880s. In 1890 new pipes and pumps were installed down into the mines and dewatering began. A new breaker was constructed and production began to increase throughout the 1890s. By 1900 production was large. However, in 1910 Potts Colliery mines at Locustdale were again allowed to flood to extinguish once and for all the mine fires that had plagued the operation for years. The mine was once again dewatered by August 1911, the breaker was modernized, and other improvements were installed. Then production climbed until Potts was one of Philadelphia & Reading's best producing mines. After 1930, Potts coal was sent to nearby Locust Summit Central Breaker (see below) for cleaning and final shipment by rail. The 1930s and '40s were the golden age of Potts coal mining. Also, stripping started in the 1930s. Remining the Potts culm bank took place in the early 1940s. Potts production began to slow around 1950. It continued to decline until Potts closed in 1955, ending a century of underground coal mining at Locustdale. However, the renamed Reading Anthracite Co. continued stripping for a few more years.
In the late 1920s, Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. made the momentous decision to centralize the processing and shipping of their many Western Middle Coalfield collieries at two modern central breakers. One was the St. Nicholas Breaker and the other was the Locust Summit Breaker near Locustdale. The Locust Summit Breaker received by rail coal mined at Potts, Reliance, Locust Gap and Alaska Collieries. It opened in 1930 and featured the latest coal cleaning technology such as Chance sand cones. Coal coming to Locust Summit Breaker from the surrounding mines was received through a double rotary gondola car dumper. There was also a mine at the site of the breaker known as Locust Spring.
Wilburton No. 1 & No. 2, Pennsylvania
By the late 1880s, prospect drilling had proven that anthracite coal reserves existed under the North Branch of Shamokin Creek in southern Columbia County. In 1889, work began to mine this coal. The Lehigh Valley Railroad extended a spur from Mount Carmel to the new mine named Mid Valley Colliery. The new coal company was christened Mid Valley Coal Company (sometimes spelled Midvalley). It was part of the Leisenring and Wentz family of companies, and the 1890 state mine report actually listed Righter, Leisenring & Co. as the operator. A "patch town" was built for the workers and named Wilburton. The breaker opened in January or February 1891. Barely two years went by before the Mid Valley breaker burned in June 1893. A new one was ready by November. As the 1890s went on, a sister operation opened up the creek and was named Mid Valley No. 2. Another company housing development was constructed and called Wilburton No. 2. Leghigh Valley did not extend the railroad from No. 1 to No. 2. Rather, No. 2 was approached from Centralia. There were multiple drift and slope portals at both collieries and large tonnage was reported as the 1800s turned into the 1900s. Just after the turn of the century, No. 1 was inundated with water for a time and mining stopped. A new pump house was built, No. 1 reopened, and Mid Valley Coal Co. had many good years of production. It's possible that all coal was taken out through No. 2 breaker because maps show the rail spur to No. 1 as being removed. Hazle Brook Coal Co. became the new operator in 1923. In addition to underground operations, Hazle Brook began stripping at Wilburton in the 1930s. Midvalley production dwindled in the 1940s. By 1946 what was left of Midvalley coal was sent to Gilberton to be cleaned and loaded. The antiquated No. 2 breaker was remodeled and updated at that time, and in 1947 it began to clean other small operators' coal. In 1948 a bizarre situation occurred where a plane carrying show business executives crashed into the electric substation next to the breaker. Hazle Brook Coal Co. continued to operate the breaker and strip coal in the vicinity until 1957. Jeddo Highland Coal Co. purchased the breaker in 1958 and built a "Fine Coal Plant." When this plant closed in April 1964, that ended 73 years of non-stop anthracite coal mining activity at Wilburton Nos. 1 and 2. Mid Valley Coal Sales began surface remining at No. 2 in 2014.
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An incredible mountainside of culm near Shamokin.
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Coal company "patch" houses, perhaps built by the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company for employees of their Gilberton Colliery and Draper Colliery mines.
This is still called Quality Hill, possibly indicating that the houses were for mine foremen or other supervisors, although they are duplex and not single family homes.
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Another section of coal company houses in Gilberton known as Long Row.
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Anthracite coal breaker near Gilberton, Pa.
2010 image by Mashuga
Coal company "patch town" at William Penn, Pa. Actually, there are two communities: West William Penn and East William Penn. William Penn Colliery opened
in 1864 by Samuel E. Griscom & Co. to mine coal for iron manufacturing in Reading, Pa. (Actually, three other men opened the drift portal into the Mammoth seam earlier that year, but Griscom legally outmaneuvered them to take over the lease.)
It later became a property of William Penn Coal Co.
Image courtesy of undergroundminers.com
One of the biggest anthracite coal mining operations was Glen Burn at Shamokin, Pa. The breaker was demolished in the late 1980s , but this refuse head house
remained well into the 21st century. This was where the cars containing coal refuse came up an incline from the breaker and were dumped. This was probably one of the last inclines in use at an American coal mine.
1992 image by Doug Lilly
The Saint Nicholas breaker in Schuylkill County was the last historic breaker in eastern Pennsylvania. Despite heroic efforts to save it, demolition began in 2015. It's a shame that not even one of the once ubiquitous breakers were preserved in the Coal Region. A few modern breakers are still working, though.
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These remaining small structures (scale houses and pump house for St. Nicholas's Dorr thickener) are all that remains of St. Nicholas. The breaker would have been right behind these.
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A few Reading and Northern railroad cars with the remains of Boston Run / Wiggins patch town in the background. This was the site of bitter labor disputes between mine guards and the Molly McGuires in the 1870s. One particular violent episode is still known as the Wiggins Patch Massacre.
1999 image by Marie Valigorsky
Centralia, Pennsylvania is an infamous community known for its abandonment after the anthracite coal seams caught fire and caused the town to become
uninhabitable. Here's an eerie picture taken in the nearly abandoned community.
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Empty city streets in my obligatory picture of Centralia. Until the 1980s, these streets would have been full of houses and businesses. From the late 1980s until into the 21st century, the town was abandoned and demolished due to an underground mine fire that started in the 1960s. The heat and carbon monoxide laden smoke made the town uninhabitable.
In the background, up on a hill, is the still functioning Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church. For some reason, this
church has erected signs discouraging anyone but their congregation from visiting the church.
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A roadside Catholic shrine on the mountain above Centralia that was built by area resident Mike Reilley around 1950 is still extant 75 years later (and still being maintained by the Reilley family).
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Probably 20th century coal mine ruins near Centralia.
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Fossil fuel and renewable energy side by side near Centralia. The culm bank could be from long ago mining at Centralia Colliery.
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This company housing from Tunnel Ridge Colliery is known as Cole's Patch. It is probably named after George W. Cole, the operator of Tunnel Ridge. Cole started mining at this location in 1863 or "64 (sources vary) on a lease from Philadelphia & Mahanoy Company. Cole operated Tunnel Ridge into the mid 1870s, when groundwater became problematic in the mines. In 1878, Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. became the owner and operator of Tunnel Ridge Colliery. This firm, the largest coal producer in the area, leased Tunnel Ridge to Joseph B. Cole from 1890 to 1892. In 1893, P. & R. took Tunnel Ridge back. Production was good and in 1897 a new breaker was constructed. In 1899 Philadelphia & Reading installed pneumatic power into the mine and mules were replaced. P. & R. C. & I. Co. operated Tunnel Ridge until 1934. At the end of its life, Tunnel Ridge production and employment was low and a lot of tonnage came from remining the culm bank. In addition to Cole's Patch, P.& R. also owned company housing in Mahanoy City boro. Some Tunnel Ridge employees may have also lived in these houses, and some of them are still in existence into the 21st century.
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Tourist coal mine at Ashland, Pennsylvania named Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine and Steam Train. Pioneer Colliery opened in the 1850s. In 1872, the mighty Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. became the operator. The Pioneer breaker not at this portal, but over the hill at the railroad. In the 20th Century, this tunnel accessed the Bancroft Colliery's Buck Mountain vein workings. Bancroft was another P. & R. C. & I. mine. Bancroft's breaker was just a short distance away from the location of the original Pioneer Breaker. Bancroft underground mining turned into strip mining that was processed at nearby Locust Summit breaker before being abandoned in 1932.
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This head frame from a vertical shaft was saved from demolition and moved to Pioneer Tunnel from its original location at North Mahanoy Colliery.
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Photo showing the Blaschak breaker in the background and the birch trees that are so ubiquitous to this area.
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The owner of Fetterman Equipment & Coal Co. demonstrates the dumping operation of one of his coal trucks. His grandfather started the company, so it is a family tradition.
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The Blaschak Anthracite breaker where Mr. Fetterman loads his trucks. This breaker dates back to 1955.
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Dewatering the coal in front of the breaker. From all appearances, all environmental laws and regulations are being followed at this operation. Measures are taken to minimize or eliminate pollution.
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Fetterman Coal makes a delivery to a customer.
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Coal discharging through a gate from the bed of the Fetterman Coal. It will slide down a chute and into the coal cellar of the house.
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A bucket of anthracite coal ash in the basement of Mr. Fetterman's customer's house. In this house, coal is fed by an auger from the coal cellar into the furnace. The operation is controlled by a thermostat up in the house.
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The historic architecture of the small city of Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania
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Near Ranshaw, Pa. can be found these anthracite coal mine ruins. On the right is a mid-20th century coal processing plant (perhaps to process coal that was either stripped or reprocessed from a nearby culm dump) and, at the left rear, an older breaker.
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A closer look at the deteriorating breaker on the edge of Ranshaw. This was the site of Buck Ridge Colliery breaker and parts of this (farther up on the hill) may even be original to that historic breaker. The lower part is obviously a 20th century addition.
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Bear Valley No. 2 patch in Northumberland County. At the edge of Shamokin is a sign with arrow pointing to "Bear Valley Patches." First the traveler comes to No. 1 and then No. 2 and then a gate in the road. No. 3 would have been out past the gate, and a few of its houses still existed into the 1980s, but it no longer exists. In 1863-64, Bear Valley Colliery was opened by Shamokin & Bear Valley Coal Co.
In the 1870s, the various Bear Valley mines were operated by Huin & Goodwill / Goodwill & Co. / Hime & Goodwell (records disagree on the spelling). At times, the mighty Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. was the lessor and at times it was also the operator. After circa 1878 it was the operator. This huge company not only was by and large the most productive anthracite coal producer in the region, it also owned the railroad that carried the coal away from the collieries. Bear Valley maintained oscillating but high production until Philadelphia & Reading sold it to Bear Valley Coal Co. in 1938. This firm idled the mine in June 1939. Coal & Iron Co. began stripping and remining the culm banks at Bear Valley during World War 2. At some point, stripping in Bear Valley exposed the famous "whaleback" anticlinal rock formation.
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This boarded up portal at the edge of Shamokin was a rock slope that goes into the old workings of the Henry Clay and Sterling (sometimes spelled Stirling) mines. The "1934" date on the lintel is after Philadelphia Coal & Iron closed Henry Clay (in 1932), so it may have been a drainage / pumping portal. Henry Clay Colliery opened circa 1860. After it was closed, the culm bank was remined in the 1930s and 40s.
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A coal company house at Maple Hill, Pa. still wearing the green asbesos siding that was apparently once very common in anthracite patch towns. At least one of the windows appears to be the original 4 pane design. The porch is authentic, too, as is part of the soffit.
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The former site of the Maple Hill colliery.
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Row Houses in Mahaony City.
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Modern strip mining behind a remnant structure from North Mahanoy Colliery. There were once portals and shops of North Mahanoy at this location. This operation lasted from 1860 until 1931. This area along Mahanoy Creek was one of the sites of Molly Maguires struggles for better treatment of coal miners.
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This coal company patch town is Park Place, Pa. It is an outgrowth of an operation began in 1861 known as Copley (sometimes spelled Coplay). Lentz and Bowman operated this mine until the early 1880s. Lentz must have picked up some new partners, because from 1883 until 1886 the mine was renamed Park No. 1 and reported as being owned by Lentz, Lilley & Co. (A sister mine, Park No. 2, opened nearby - see below.) Continuing under the Lentz, Lilley & Co. banner, the colliery was at times known as Park No. 1 and at other times Springdale until it was abandoned in 1897.
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Shown here is the Trenton patch town. Park Place / Park No. 1's neighbor was Trenton Colliery that was opened in 1864 by Wooley and Barton. Later, a Mr. Atkinson operated it until 1875, when it closed (perhaps due to flooding, a common problem at that time.) It was reopened as Park No. 2 in 1883 by Lentz, Lilley & Co. Different seams of anthracite coal were mined at Park No. 2 by Lentz, Lilley & Co. until 1903 when it became Park Place Colliery operated by Lentz & Co. In 1909 the name was changed to Lentz Coal Co. By that time there were four Park mines feeding the breaker. Lehigh Valley Coal Co. began operating Park Colliery on July 1, 1911. Lehigh Valley wound down Park No. 2 in 1933, but began stripping the area. In 1935, Lehigh Valley again reported production from Park mines, Park stripping, and remining of the culm bank. Centralia Collieries Co. also mined at Park in 1938. Other companies that mined Park No. 1 and No. 2 coal in the 1940s and 50s included Northeast Mining Co., Delano Anthracite Collieries Co., Alpec Coal Co., and Rhodes Co. After 90 years, mining ceased in the 1950s.
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Looking down on the Trenton patch from the hill above. Some of these houses may date to the 1880s when Lentz reopened Trenton as Park No. 2.
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This was a rock slope into the Skidmore vein of Primrose Colliery. Primrose was opened by Steel & Patterson in 1862 or '63 (not this portal, though). The next operator was Caldwell & Connant / Caldwell & Co., who operated Primrose until they leased it to Nevills & Co. in 1872. From that time until 1893, the mine reported to the state of Pennsylvania as being alternately operated by either Nevills & Co. or Primrose Coal Co. During this time, Primrose Colliery was very much a small to medium-sized producer. Production records go dark in 1894-95, perhaps because the underground works were flooded. Lehigh Valley Coal Co. took over Primrose Colliery in 1896 and the workforce and coal production began to get larger. The breaker was remodeled and updated in 1899. Lehigh Valley continued to operate Primrose Colliery until 1914, when the operation disappears from state mining records. At that time, Primrose may have been subsumed into Lehigh Valley's nearby Park Colliery.
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A view down the Primrose rock slope. In 1900, three men perished from smoke inhalation in a Primrose Colliery mine fire. About these deaths, the local mine inspector wrote, "No intelligent miner would have attempted to travel through the smoke, but would have retreated to the outlet to surface, which was only 2,500 feet from where they worked to the outcrop ... How this fire originated remains a mystery, as no signs of fire or smoke were discovered up to the time that work ceased in the colliery. The alarm of fire was given by the night pumping engineer. When it was discovered that the three men had not arrived home, a party of men, under the leadership of James O'Donnell, mine foreman, entered the mine at the outlet, traveled westward along the gangway to a door a few feet east of where the men were found, which showed that the men did not meet with any smoke or gas until
they opened the door. It was the opinion of some that the lamp of a driver, riding up the slope on his mule, might have touched some of the dry timber, which has been the cause of a few mine fires in
this district."
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Other remnants of men mining anthracite coal for Primrose Colliery can be found near the rock slope portal. I'm not sure whether Primrose featured its own company housing or if the miners lived in nearby Mahanoy City.
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Shown is the Buck Mountain patch town in Mahanoy Township, Schuylkill County. There was also a Buck Mountain mine and town in neighboring Luzerne County that opened in 1840. This older Buck Mountain was probably the source of the name of the Buck Mountain vein of anthracite coal.
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Coal cars sitting on the once large St. Nicholas rail yard of Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. In the background is part of Gilberton Coal Co.
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This "patch town" is New Boston, Pa. Coal was discovered at this location in 1842, but it wasn't until 1863-64 that New Boston Coal Co. opened a coal mine at this location. The operation went through several operators (White & Co.; Walter, White & Cox, Broad Mountain & Lehigh Coal Co.) in the 1870s. Middle Creek Coal Co. was the operator from circa 1880, and in 1883 this firm first named the mine at New Boston Middle Lehigh Colliery. It would be known alternately as Middle Lehigh Colliery or New Boston Colliery over the years. From the late 1880s until 1891 the property was operated by Middle Creek Coal Co. The 1890s are a murky period of history for Middle Lehigh / New Boston, but around 1903 Mill Creek Coal Co. (which owned nearby Vulcan and Buck Mountain) began pumping out the old works, which included three splits of the Mammoth vein, Skidmore vein, Seven Foot vein, and Buck Mountain Vein. Mill Creek also built a new breaker, and, until the early 1930s, New Boston prospered under their ownership. Mill Creek sold the possibly idled New Boston and active neighboring Morea Colliery to Morea Coal Co. in 1937. After 1940, operators at New Boston included Lykens Coal Co., Morea-New Boston Breaker Corp., and Morea Mining Co.
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This was the company store for Morea Colliery. The coal company operated it under the subsidiary Morea Supply Co.
Image courtesy Heritage of Morea Colliery
The Morea Company store long ago when it was still a retail enterprise.
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These coal company houses remain into the 21st century. Dodson Coal Co. also built a "patch" on the other side of the breaker named Brooklyn Village for immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. The residents of Morea of British, Irish, and German ancestry found the lifestyles and personal habits of the new immigrants to be objectionable and the coal company segregated them in Brooklyn.
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Remaining coal company houses next to where Philadelphia & Reading built a shaft down into the Reliance mines. This "patch" is known as Beaverdale. There was also a small row of company houses at the Reliance Breaker, which was some distance away (behind the modern school that is located there now).
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The remaining Reliance pump house. A "cleaner plant," engine house (for the shaft), and bath house for the miners was also located here. For a time, water from Reliance Colliery was pumped to a water tank at Locust Summit Breaker two miles away. What may have happened is Reliance mines were allowed to flood in 1953-54 and that pool of water was used for cleaning coal at Locust Summit. In 1954, the first mention of the "Reliance Pump Station" is mentioned in Pennsylvania mine records.
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This was an electric borehole down into the Reliance Colliery underground mines.
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Locustdale, Pa. "patch" town.
Image source forgotten
Here is an artist's drawing of what the company town looked like in
the mid 1860s. The historic houses are shown in the photo above. The company store in the center of the picture survived as a mom and pop store into the mid-20th century and the structure itself survived into the late 20th century.
Post card found on eBay
A vintage view of Locustdale as seen from the Potts hoist house.
Google Street View image
This stone house at the back of Locustdale is next to where the Potts Colliery was located and is probably one of the earliest company houses. It could date to the 1850s.
1990s Historic American Engineering Record, Creator, et al., photographers by Parrish, Wanda, et al.
The abandoned Locust Summit Breaker before it was demolished in 2002.
1990s Historic American Engineering Record, Creator, et al., photographers by Parrish, Wanda, et al.
The double turnover rail car dumper that received the incoming coal at the Locust Summit Breaker.
1957 image by Robert Wanner
The Locust Summit Breaker closed in the mid 1950s. This photo shows it just after being idled. In the foreground is an electric locomotive used to move rail cars full of coal around the large rail yard associated with the breaker.
March 2025 image by author
Looking out over the former Locust Summit Breaker location. It was demolished in 2002. Reading Anthracite, a direct descendant of Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co., is mining and remining and re-remining the area.
March 2025 image by author
Vestiges of the Locust Summit Breaker operation: The building on the left was the boiler house for the thaw shed. On the right may be a remnant of the thawing shed where railroad cars of frozen coal were warmed in winter before being dumped at the rotary dumper.
March 2025 image by author
Wilburton No. 1. When it was new it was described as "nicely and regularly laid out
with streets and alleys, and each block of houses is surrounded with a
large plot of ground, giving opportunities for gardens and preventing
crowding. The houses are first-class in every particular and painted
inside and out, plastered and wainscoted, with neat porches, cellars
under all houses, properly drained, with out-houses, coal houses and
a small barn combined. It is certainly the model town of the anthracite
coal region. There are several classes of houses, large, medium and
small, to suit different sized families. The streets of the town are
cleaned up and graded, water pipes run through the town supplying
good, pure water to all, right at their doors. This water is pumped by
the company from their water supply dams in the valley below. There
is already a school house with two school rooms, graded and ungraded.
The headquarters of the coal company are in large and comfortable rooms in the company building in town. This is a busy,
prosperous, industrious little town of over 600 people where little over a
year ago was a barren wilderness."
March 2025 image by author
Wilburton No. 2 company town.
