ATLASBURG, PA
Atlasburg is a "patch town" in Smith Township, Washington County, PA. It was probably built by the Atlas Coal Company in the 1910s. The mines were called Atlas No. 1 and No. 2, and were shaft mines. About this
coal company town Coal Age wrote, "...the town is one of the most excellent mining towns in the Pittsburgh district. No expense was spared in providing the employees with comforatable homes. The houses are single and of
different designs and are located on lots 60x150 ft., with 60 ft. streets."
The red brick power house, boiler house, and hoisting engine house remain from the Atlas mines. A later operator of the mines was Carnegie Coal Co.
Another view of the brick mine buildings that are still in existence at Atlasburg. They are being reused by a construction and engineering firm.
In 1913 Coal Age magazine wrote a pair of gushing articles on the Atlasburg coal preparation plant. The articles began, "It is one of the newest operations in Pennsylvania and the equipment is modern
in every respect." The article further states that the company owned 1,700 acres of coal, and that both the Pittsburgh seam and a "rooster" coal seam right above it would both be mined.
Photo courtesy of Mark Mamros
Photo courtesy of Mark Mamros
Photo courtesy of Mark Mamros
Picture of the Atlasburg tipple from the Coal Age article. The caption reads, "Vertical doors in the headframe are to admit the sheaves and large opening in the side of the tipple
is for the rock trestle now being constructed."
1913 view of the aboveground portion of the coal mine complex at Atlasburg. The three red brick buildings still in existence in the third Mark Mamros photo above are also
visable in this old black and white picture. A man hoist is on the right.
The Coal Age article also featured this cross-sectional drawing of the Atlas Coal Company's tipple.
"Weigh Baskets, Feeder Hopper, Picking Table, and Bone Conveyor."