EMERALD MINES

Jun. 2004 image by author The Emerald Mine opened near Clarksville, Pa. in 1921. (It is not the same Emerald Mine as the one near Waynesburg that operated from the coal boom days of 1977 to the coal bust days of 2015.) Here is a photo of all that's left of the Emerald Mine tipple. When the railroad was removed and a bike trail put in it's place, most of the tipple was demolished. But this portion going down to the barge loadout on the Monongahela River remains.

Mar. 2003 image by author When a tornado destroyed much of the original patch housing for the Emerald Mine in 1944, Emerald Coal and Coke built the Burson patch, shown here, to house the miners and their families. (Thanks to Greene County coal historian Lonnie Miller for the information.)

Mar. 2003 image by author Braden was another section of company-built housing for employees of the Emerald Mine, and was one of the last coal company towns to be constructed in Pennsylvania.

SOME OF THE LAST COAL COMPANY TOWNS TO BE BUILT IN APPALACHIA

1940-Marianna, WV

1942-Republic, KY

1944-Burson/Braden, PA

1945-Maryland No. 2 / Wilmore Heights, PA

1946-Raven-Peerless Mine, Nicholas County, WV

1945-Wharton, WV

1946-Robin Hood Mine, Boone County, WV (five houses for management)

1947-Munson, WV

1947-Keokee, VA (reconstructed)

1947-Lynco, WV

1947-Barrett & Clinton, WV

1952-New Camp (Pound), VA (only 10 houses for management)

Google Street View image Another section of Emerald Mine housing is called Chartiers Hill. These coal company houses are probably older than Burson and Braden.

Mar. 2003 image by author A Norfolk-Southern train winds past the spot where the Edwards shaft of the Emerald mine used to be located. Later this was known as the Gateway mine, and produced coal into the 1980s.

Mar. 2003 image by author View of the Braden housing development.

Bing Maps image Aerial photo showing the arrangement of Emerald Mine housing.

From the Aug. 26, 1975 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "...There is more coal mining activity in Greene County than ever before in its hisotry," says Stephen McCann, executive vice president of the Western Pennsylvania Coal Operators Association and a resident of Carmichaels. "From 1975 to 1985, under present plans, it is believed there will be in the neighborhood of eight new mines opening up," says McCann. Total coal production and employemtn in the mines are both expected to double in the next 15 years, he adds. That would mean about 5,000 more mining jobs. What caused the big resurgence in interest in Greene County coal? "This is the largest reserve field of underground coal in the eastern U.S.," McCann says, pointing on a map to an area that includes all of Greene County and the southern half of Washington County. Big steel and coal companies have owned coal rights that weren't exercised until now because lower sulfur coal was available, and in many cases, it was closer to the Monongahela River ..."