Crucible, PA

Crucible - A Greene County coal mine and town

Crucible was operated by Crucible Fuel Co. (at first named Crucible Coal Co.), a subsidiary of Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Co. Some sources have stated that the mine opened in 1911, but it wasn't until 1913 that Uniontown coal property speculator J.V. Thompson sold the 2,000 acres of coal lands to the Crucible Steel. Co. The company was incorporated in November 2013, and mining probably began in 1914. The coal was shipped to the coke plant of the integrated steel mill of Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Co. in Midland, Pa. Over 1300 people lived in Crucible the late 1940's. The mine was closed in the early 1960's.

Image courtesy of the John W. Barriger collection The prep plant and barge loadout at Crucible, Pa as it looked in its heyday.
Image courtesy of Mather Recovery Systems LLC Overall view of the ruins of the Crucible coal processing plant.
Aug. 2002 image by author Coal washery ruins at Crucible, Pa. had no provisions for loading trains, so they must have shipped all their coal by barge on the river to the coke plant at Midland, Pa.
Image courtesy Coal and Coke Heritage Center, Penn State Fayette The original Crucible tipple and headframe.
Circa 1930 "Keystone Coal Mining Catalog" image This part of the Crucible tipple was not concrete, and appears to have been steel-framed. That looks like typical steel sheeting on the sides, but is actually asbestos siding.
Aug. 2002 image by author Remains of a Dorr thickener at the Crucible prep plant ruins.
Aug. 2002 image by author Hulking concrete remains of the coal preparation plant.
Aug. 2002 image by author This old boiler house was probably built when the mine opened.
Image courtesy Coal and Coke Heritage Center, Penn State Fayette The Crucible boiler house as it looked when the mine was active.
Aug. 2002 image by author Another Crucible mine building, on the banks of the Monongahela River, this one is probably a bathhouse or machine shop. These interesting mine ruins still existed when I took this photo, but all that is there now is a boring grassy field.
Aug. 2002 image by author Large gob piles across the Monongahela River from the Crucible coal processing complex. The coal refuse (aka "gob") was transported across the river from the Crucible coal washery via cable tram cars.
Aug. 2002 image by author The Crucible "patch" is up on the hill above the tipple site.
Aug. 2002 image by author Larger 2-family company housing at Crucible, Pa.
Aug. 2002 image by author A smaller type of one family homes that the company built for its workers.
Circa 1930 "Keystone Coal Mining Catalog" image Row of miners' cottages at Crucible. At least part of this coal company town was constructed by the Fort Pitt Bridge Company.
Aug. 2002 image by author The old United Mine Workers union hall at Crucible.