ISABELLA, PA
Bird's eye view of Isabella showing the patch houses in the upper left, the tipple ruins and barge loadout
on the Monongahela River in the lower left, and the huge refuse pile on the right. Many of the original company houses have been torn down.
Isabella in 1954.
Bird's eye view of Isabella, PA from many years ago.
This section of the Isabella tipple is still in existance today. The mine and patch at Isabella were built during the years around 1910.
The other side of the tipple at Isabella. There was more to the tipple at one time. That is not a coal refuse pile in the background - that is a refuse mountain.
This picture is of the old barge loadout at Isabella. The mine and town are on the banks of the Monongahela River.
Most of the buildings that made up the Isabella coal mining complex are gone today. However, this shop building is still there. Supposedly there were rectangular coke ovens at Isabella. Only a few small piles of bricks and pieces of coke remain of the Isabella coke yard, which was adjacent to the mine.
Many people still inhabit the somewhat isolated Isabella patch town. Isabella was one of the last major coal mines in Fayette County, being closed by National Mines Corporation sometime after the 1970s.
Isabella tipple, with the patch town in the background.
Laura sent in this picture of coal miners at Isabella. Her great grandfather, Charles A. Lyons, is in the center of the photo. In the background are bags of "rock dust."
Another picture, perhaps on a shaft elevator, with Mr. Lyons second from right. The miner in the center is wearing a round pin that says, "Silence Genius at Work."
Ted writes, "I grew up in Isabella; I was born in '74 and lived in the patch during
the period it went from an operational mine to an abandoned industrial
area; My grandfather, Alex Skakandy, worked in the mine cutting coal
underground on a continuous miner and retired just before the mine shut
down in the early 80s. My grandfather was the son of immigrants, but he was born in America ...
I do know that his side of the family was Russian. After the mine closed, the mine buildings and the
large slate dump became a playground of sorts for the kids in the patch,
with the slate dump being very popular for dirt bikers. In the summer we
would fish from the steel/concrete barge tie-ups in the river (at least
one had a metal access walkway from the bank; you may have seen it when
you were taking photos of the tipple). To get to this section of the
river, you had to cross mine property, which after the mine shut down,
was guarded on and off at times by hired guards so we always felt like
we were running the guantlet to get to the river. Eventually most of the
mine buildings were demolished - I remember sadly watching some of the
demolition from the parking lot next to the Fire Hall which overlooked
the mine site - but the tipple was left standing. I moved away from the
patch permanently in the early/mid 90s due to college, but still
occasionally visit the area. Just last weekend, a few friends and I
kayaked down the Monongahela River from Adah to East Fredericktown and
along the way we passed under the Isabella tipple. There were about 4 or
5 kids diving off the concrete platform there - funny to see that kids
are still playing there."
Image courtesy of Microsoft Virtual Earth
Image from the John Enman papers, 1876-2013, Coal and Coke Heritage Center at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus
Image from the book "King Coal" by Stan Cohen, and the WVU archives
March 2003 image by author
March 2003 image by author
March 2003 image by author
March 2003 image by author
March 2003 image by author
March 2003 image by author
March 2003 image by author
Image from the John Barriger III National Railroad Library
Image courtesy of Laura
Image courtesy of Laura