Bradenville Coal & Coke Company
A descendent of late 1700s Westmoreland County settlers, Mathias W. Saxman instigated much of the coal and coke interests in the county and Derry Township. Born a farmer’s son in 1836, Saxman formed his first company in 1865–M. Saxman, Jr., & Company. This company was devoted to developing the coal and coke industry in Derry Township. Saxman erected the first coke factory in the township, which was completed in ca.1869. In addition to this company, Saxman singularly, or in cooperation, created at least five other coal and coke companies: Saxman Coal and Coke Company (1873), Derry Coal and Coke Company (1887), Superior Coal and Coke Company, Latrobe-Connellsville Coal and Coke Company, and Bradenville Coal & Coke Company (1914). Mathias Saxman’s son, Marcus Wilson Saxman, also inherited his father’s business sense and involvement with the coal and coke industry. Marcus served as a supervisor, president, stockholder, manager, director, and treasurer of no less than thirty-two businesses, including that of Bradenville Coal & Coke Company.  Developed by Mathias Saxman in 1914, the Bradenville Coal & Coke Company operated a mine, 194-244 ovens, and a company town until 1951. In the mid-1910s, the company developed a store, as well as single-family and multi-family residences in Bradenville. By the end of World War I, the company had reverted to a new majority stockholder, the Graff family of Graff Mining Company. The company retained its original name and continued operations until 1951. Approximately forty houses built by Bradenville Coal & Coke still exist as residences. Since its construction, the original company store has been divided into two sections. As of 1994, one part of the building had been converted into apartments while the other served as a grocery store.

His answer was a story of a tragedy that happened in Bradenville March 5, 1904, as was related to him by his older brothers and in later years by the residents of Bradenville who experienced it.

The Pennsylvania Railroad engineers were planning the right-of-way for the railroad from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia in 1850. When they reached Bradenville, just east of of the town they encountered a large hill. Instead of trying to go through the hill, they ran the tracks out around the lower side of the hill. In 1904, the PRR decided to cut straight through the hill, which as about 80 or 90 feet high at the highest point. A contractor from Pittsburgh, the Kerbaugh Construction Co. was hired to do the job.

A camp to house the workers was built near the PRR site. In doing the work, they had to drill the rock and use explosives to blast it loose. A powder house was constructed about a quarter of a mile from the operation to store the explosives. It was still cold weather and the company had a stove in the powder house to keep the dynamite from freezing, and a watchman to look after the fire.

For some unknown reason, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon on March 5th, the powder house blew up. I was just about three years old at the time, and we lived on the farm just east of the Loyalhanna railroad bridge (later owned by the Uschock family). This story was told to me by my older brothers. My brothers said that as soon as they heard the explosion, they ran from Loyalhanna to Bradenville and as they ran, they could see and hear the powder caps being blown up into the air and exploding on at a time.  In later years as a teenager growing up in Bradenville, I could verify that fact, for we often played in the field where the powder house stood and the field was still strewn with the old rusty powder caps.

As this section of Bradenville was develpoed and houses were built, it was called "Dynamite Hill."

The explosion blew out all the windows and damaged most of the houses in Bradenville, and many in Latrobe and surrounding communities. No loss of life was reported. Many suffered cuts from flying glass. I knew two men who lost the sight of their eyes. One was blind in both eyes, and one lost the sight of one eye.

And it was said that no one ever saw or heard anything of the man who was looking after the powder house. Some seemed to think that he let the fire get out of hand and fled the scene; others believed he was blown up in the explosion. It was also said that a carload of dynamite was standing on the PRR siding at the Bradenville station, to be unloaded for the powder house.
(Story courtesy of Robert L. Jenkins, Falls Church, Virginia and "The Independent", Latrobe, PA Nov. 9,1995)

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