KEISTERVILLE, PA
A.L. Keister and Company opened the Lincoln Mine and coke works in 1900. A.L. Keister, of Scottdale, Pa., was president of the First National Bank of Scottdale, and was also a Congressman. He
never married and died in 1917. The Lincoln Mine was a drift entry into the Pittsburgh coal seam. The original 80 oven coke plant eventually grew to 400 coke ovens. By the 1910s, A.L. Keister and Co. had been reorganized
and renamed as Lincoln Coal and Coke Co. They continued to operate the mine and beehive coke plant until 1941, and in 1942 operated the coke ovens with coal trucked in from other nearby mines.
Lincoln Coal and Coke closed their coke plant in 1942. There was talk that the East Fayette Coal Co. would lease the coke plant and resume production later in 1942. I'm not certain that this ever occurred. The coal outcrop at Keisterville was strip mined by Gilleland Coke Co.
during World War 2. Today, Keisterville is one of many post-industrial Fayette County "patch towns" that has grown quiet.
A few meager remnants of the Lincoln coke plant at Keisterville persist into the 21st century, as documented by this article.
July 2024 image by author
July 2024 image by author
Looking down into this former coal company town.
July 2024 image by author
This Keisterville company house is noteworthy because it has retained its original twin porch roofs. A home heating oil tank
is in the front yard.
July 2024 image by author
Since both of these houses sport the same fading Insulbrick siding, I postulate that at one time all of the houses in Keisterville may have
had the same treatment, either from the coal company or when the coal company sold the houses to one or more individuals.
July 2024 image by author
In the middle of the community can be found these cottage type houses, as opposed to the more common two-family company houses.
July 2024 image by author
This house retains its original outhouse, or as it is called in this area "privy". The reason it has two doors is because this was a two-family house. Nothing like
sitting in your side of the outhouse listening to your neighbor's explosive diarrhea on the other side.
July 2024 image by author
The "honor roll" remembering war veterans that can be found in many Pennsylvania coal towns. In the background is the Keisterville Union Church. There was
also St. Casimir Catholic Church in Keisterville until it was closed in 2001. I wish I had photographed that structure when I visited this village, because I can see on Google Earth that it is still standing.
July 2024 image by author
July 2024 image by author
This home, which has been greatly modified from its original appearance, was once a managment-level company house.
July 2024 image by author
Looking down into the Keisterville "patch town" from one of the hills.
1973 image by Rebecca Strauch
The ruins of Lincoln mine's blacksmith shop. In addition to repairing the coal miners' tools, this blacksmith
shop would have also helped mainain the beehive coke workers' tools.
1973 image by Rebecca Strauch
Ruins of the beehive coke ovens.
July 2024 image by author