Bituminous Mining In Eastern Pennsylvania

The state of Pennsylvania mostly consists of Sedimentary rocks which were deposited during the Paleozoic Era. Pennsylvania

The discovery of “Fools Gold” is what led to the enriched and powerful development of the mining company. A Baltimore native John Detrick managed to hike along the Quantico Creek and discovered something shiny in the water which just so happened to be pyrite, also known as Iron Sulfide. With this discovery there came three shafts that lived pyrite. The Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine was the only pyrite mine in the area and really helped out the locals by boosting the economy and providing jobs for farmers who worked as laborers for the mine and then went home to tend to their farm after working. The company was such a big success that by 1917, Virginia produced more pyrite than any other state and continued to provide profitable income to families and businesses located in the area. This would be Batestown and Hickory Ridge at the time in history. With a booming economy, the mining company was able to rake in even more of a profit when World War I struck due to the fact that it was able to produce gunpowder during the mid-nineteenth century. The Cabin Branch Mining Company not only produced an income for the locals by pyrite carrying the main ingredient sulfur that was necessary to produce products like gunpowder, bleach, textiles, soap, medicine, etc. but it also contributed to the remarkable advantages the park would make with its preservation of the mine

People of many different nationalities settled in Pennsylvania to work in the coal mines. Conflicts developed not only among people of different cultural backgrounds but also between laborers and owners of the mines. The struggle between labor and management is illustrated in the story of the Molly Maguires, an Irish group which settled in eastern Pennsylvania.

The coal mining and anthracite region faced many challenges throughout the years, and still face many struggles today. The coal mining and anthracite region was a very bumpy road for everyone. The levels of coal within the industry have varied over time and with the help of new technology, more coal was being found. The coal

By 1919, the largest nonunionized coal region in the United States was Mingo and Logan counties in West Virginia. In September 1919, rumors of miners being harassed and beaten for attending labor meetings reached Charleston. Around 5,000 miners met at Marmet, near Lens Creek, they prepared to go to Logan County. Since Governor John Cornwell was aware of the danger, he went to Marmet to convince the miners to go home. Almost all of the miners went home.

In 1962, Centralia, Pennsylvania, found in the Appalachian valley with a population of approximately 1100 people. A town put on the map for its richness in anthracite coal that burns long and hot, though the mine had been closed for years but far from empty. Though the people of the town knew nothing of what lurked below and went about their everyday lives which included burning trash at the municipal dump like people did in that time. As the fire burned it creep into the ground and was lit ablaze by coal long left behind, striking the beginning of the end for the small, unsuspecting Pennsylvania town. The flared for about a month and when workers finally dug back the burned earth they found it had burned much deeper than they thought. For 16 years the state and federal government tried to put out the fire and spent 3.3 million dollars on the project with little or no success and

Although company towns were most closely associated with the coal mining industry it should be noted that they existed in a number of other industries. For example, Homestead, Pennsylvania was a company town situated next to the Homestead Steel Mill. Similarly, Pullman, Illinois was a company town for workers employed at the factory that produced Pullman railroad cars. Because of large and persistent labor struggles associated with the coal industry the focus of interest, both historical and scholarly, has been on coal company

Coal discovery dates to the 1300s with the Hopi Natives. This would prove significant some five hundred years later when coal became the predominant source of power in the mid to late 1800s. This would prove even more significant when the Government started surveying the landscape for the best route for the Transcontinental Railroad in 1853. Upon completion of the research, one thing the scouts made clear was the presence of coal in Wyoming and some of the western states. To run supplies from the eastern states to the west they needed the presence of coal to be close and readily available for the coal fueled trains. This played a major role in the industrial revolution the United States was about the experience.

Coal became the fuel that fired the furnaces of the nation, transforming the Appalachian region socially and economically. Unfortunately mountain people didn't realize the implications of their mineral wealth. Many sold their land and mineral rights for pennies an acre to outlanders. Appalachians became laborers rather than entrepreneurs. Coal became a major industry which was extremely sensitive to outside fluctuations in the economy, leading to boom and bust cycles. The industry was controlled by interests outside the region, so that little of the profit remained or was reinvested.

These deposits were formed from vegetation that once grew along the edge of a brackish sea. It took about 10 feet of vegetation to ultimately form about 1 foot of coal. All of the coal found in eastern Kansas is bituminous, which is slightly softer and able to produces less energy than anthracite coal (Sefton).

The discovery of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania in the late 1700s led to the development of a robust coal industry in the eastern part of Pennsylvania that grew rapidly and contributed greatly to the history and the economy of Pennsylvania. The book The Face of Decline written by Thomas Dublin, Walter Licht, provides a well written historical and personal account of the discovery, growth, and finally the collapse of the anthracite coal industry in Pennsylvania in a chronological format. Half way through the book one starts to notice some changes in the authors format to cause and effect. The change occurs in order to discuss the cause and resulting effect of events in the region and the solutions. The story is one of great growth and opportunity in the early years which are highlighted by the documented economic growth experienced and supported through testimony within the eastern Pennsylvania coal region. After a period of economic prosperity and community growth from 1900 through 1940 challenges began to erode and occur that created problems for the community and the economy that the coal industry provided. Finally the region’s economy suffered horrendous losses as described by interviews of local residents and families who lived and experienced the rise of the region’s economy. Many of the scars are still evident by the blight and decaying scenes one would experience by traveling through the region’s communities that once fueled the American economy with the energy

Coal may be overshadowed by petroleum in Texas, but it's still here. Pennsylvanian age bituminous coal was mined in North Central Texas in sizable quantities. Bituminous coal can also be found in Cretaceous age rocks in near Eagle Pass and in the Trans-Pecos region. But the major player in Texas coal is Lignite, even though it is a lower grade coal. The Texas lignite comes from vegetative material deposited around 50 million years ago in coastal lagoon type environments, near rivers and their deltas. The material was buried before it could decay, so it sat there and was buried under more and more sediments. The enormous

During the late 1800s iron mining was at its peak and was most profitable. Minnesota had some of the biggest mines in the U.S.A. In all in the late 1800s the U.S. had mined over 42.5 BILLION metric tons of iron. This was mostly due to the fact that new equipment came out that made iron ore mining easier and faster.

In 2008 coal had a peak production. In 2016 coal was responsible for 15% of the United States energy consumption. That was a decrease from previous years. The amount of coal being produced now is the same amount as it was in 1977. Coal has been decreasing for the past few years because

Lignite is the softest coal. Further compression and aging caused the lignite coal to change into bituminous coal. Bituminous is a soft, black, brittle material that is extremely flammable and produces a lot of ash and sulfur when burned. This is the type of coal that is mined in the Appalachian Mountains, Great Plains, and the Colorado Plateau. Heat and pressure then turn bituminous into anthracite. Anthracite is the final stage of coal, and is composed almost entirely of carbon. Lignite and bituminous coal are sedimentary, while anthracite is metamorphic. Anthracite is only found where pressure and heat were very great. It doesn’t produce as much heat as bituminous coal, but it burns longer without as much residue. There are anthracite fields in Pennsylvania and Great Britain (U.S Energy Information Administration).