Chicago & Connellsville Coke Company opened Leith coal mine, coke plant, and coal company town in 1881. In the early days, coke from Leith was shipped by rail to steel mills in Illinois. In July 1889, H.C. Frick Coke Co. - the giant of the Connellsville Coalfield - acquired Leith. Other adjacent coal reserves were added to Leith, and by 1915, both Leith No. 1 and No. 2 mines were listed by the state as producing. Frick operated Leith into the mid-1930s, although by then coal production was very minor. According to Frick archives at West Overton, Pa., South Union Coal Co. leased the Leith mine from 1936 until 1944. However, Pennsylvania mining reports from that period make no mention of it. Also, Frick archives state that the beehive coke works were leased to Fayette Fuel Company from 1945 until 1954. A 1954 "Mineral Industry Surveys" of the U.S. Bureau of Mines list Fayette fuel as operating 300 machine-drawn ovens at Leith. Lastly, a Bridgeview Coal Co. operated a "Leith Strip" mine in the early 1950s. Both the Pennsylvania and B&O railroads served Leith. In the 21st Century Leith is another neighborhood of Uniontown, Pa. and the former PRR right-of-way is now a walking trail.
Circa 1912 American Iron and Steel Institute image via Google BooksThe coal and coke companies encouraged their employees to grow gardens in the yards of their company homes, such as this one in a colorized photo taken at Leith.Mar. 2023 image by authorLeith coal company "patch town."Mar. 2023 image by authorThis two-family company duplex house shows the different eras of Leith. Although the twin chimneys have been removed, two of the original 19th Century twelve pane windows remain on the side of the house. What looks like original siding can be seen on the triangle at the end of the shed roof over the porch. The original rubble stone foundation has been painted white. And the partially painted diamond-patterned siding is a style that I have seen in several other mining towns in Pennsylvania.Mar. 2023 image by authorA row of "patch" houses and the original brick company store.Mar. 2023 image by authorThe back of the original company store. The front of the store faced the railroad track and coke yard, and now has a metal addition obscuring most of it.Mar. 2023 image by authorLooking up through the patch, one can see the other company store that was built at a later date - probably the 1920s. Why Frick Coke chose to build a new company store at a location where coal reserves where becoming depleted is unknown to me. It may be that the location was still doing good business serving the nearby neighborhoods of Uniontown.Mar. 2023 image by authorThe side of the newer company store showing the freight elevator shaft. The parapat wall at top is collapsing. The store was operated by Union Supply Company, the retail arm of H.C. Frick Coke Co.Mar. 2023 image by authorDetail of lower front corner of the store showing Art Deco styling influences.Mar. 2023 image by authorAlmost every coal company town in Western Pa. features an "Honor Roll" monument to the town's veterans, and Leith is no different. It's across the street from the newer company store. For a high resolution view of the names click here.Mar. 2023 image by authorAnother Leith structure that has survived is this former school house.Mar. 2023 image by authorFoundations from the mine shaft, which was reported to be 280' deep.Mar. 2023 image by authorBoiler house foundations.Mar. 2023 image by authorThe only thing remaining from two rows of block beehive coke ovens is this piece of the wharf where coke workes once stood.Mar. 2023 image by authorFire brick from the coke ovens.Mar. 2023 image by authorOn the left is a piece of red brick that was probably part of the front face of the ovens, and on the right is a carbonized piece of fire brick.Mar. 2023 image by author
Sources:
"History of Leith Mine." West Overton Village Digital Archive, accessed March 18, 2023.
Heald, Sarah, editor. Fayette County, Pennsylvania - An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites. National Park Service, 1990.
