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| Arcadia (Coal Company Patch Town)
(ca.1900- ? ), Located three miles southwest of Glen Campbell Borough, just east of PA Rt. 286, on PA SR1032, Montgomery Twp., Indiana Co., PA [Located on the USGS 7 1/2 min Quad. Burnside, PA (1:24,000).] [UTM: E. 17 681300 - N. 4516400.]
Arcadia No. 1 Mine (ca.1900-
? ),
Arcadia No. 2 Mine (ca.1900 ?-
? ),
Arcadia No. 3 Mine (ca.1900 ?-
? ),
Arcadia No. 4 Mine (ca.1903-
? ),
Arcadia No. 5 Mine (ca.1903-
? ),
Arcadia No. 40 Mine
Arcadia No. 41 Mine
Arcadia No. 42 Mine
Arcadia No. 43 Mine
Arcadia No. 44 Mine
Victor No. 11 Mine (ca.1914-
? ),
Victor No. 14 Mine (ca.1914-
? ), |
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| A portion of the U.S. Geological Survey,
Punxsutawney, PA 15min. quad map 1903 ed. showing the Arcadia area of Montgomery
Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, located in the north eastern corner
of Indiana County. (Map courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.) |
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| A portion of the U.S. Geological Survey,
Punxsutawney, PA 15min. quad map 1942 ed. showing the Arcadia area of Montgomery
Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, located in the north eastern corner
of Indiana County. Note the changes in the size of the town of Arcadia,
showing the decline of the coal mining industry. Various changes in
the railroad lines are also evident, showing mines that were
abandoned. (Map courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.) |
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| Victor No. 11 Mine, originally developed
by the Peale Coal interests, was operated in its later years by the Clearfield
Bituminous Coal Corp., Arcadia, Montgomery Township, Indiana County,
Pennsylvania (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
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| Some of the visitors one of the mines run
by the Superior Coal Company, Glen Campbell, PA, possibly at Arcadia,
Montgomery Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
| DESCRIPTION: Arcadia is a rather typical coal mining company patch town located in Montgomery Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, three miles southwest of Glen Campbell Borough. The town was laid out on three or four parallel streets running roughly from northwest to southeast, perpendicular to the Indiana-Glen Campbell Road. East of Pa Rt. 286, on PA SR1032. Today, the lowest of the streets has been abandoned, and all the houses once located along it have been dismantled. About thirty of the coal miners' houses survived ca.1993. Although several plans are represented, two are quite common. The larges houses are two stories high, with a simple one-story central wing extending from the rear. A side-gable rood covers the house, and a shed porch extends across the front. The second comon house plan is a five-room two-story house oriented with the short side to the street, and is covered by a front-gable roof with a central chimney. A one-story gabled extension is joined to the rear. The coal company stores, mine offices, and other mine buildings are no longer extant. The United Mine Worker's Union Hall building was partially collapsed ca.1993, and the many vacant lots show that Arcadia, Montgomery Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania was once a much larger place. A whole section of housing in Arcadia west of the railroad tracks was either destroyed, dismantled or moved to other locations before ca.1942, along with several railroad spurs leading to various mines.
Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company: Arcadia Mines
Complex. The ruins of the mining complex consist of the remains of a coal loading tipple and dock and a large brick building that apparently was the powerhouse for the mining operations in the vicinity. The powerhouse was present as early as ca.1913, as it is referred to in a county history published that year. The complex is abandoned and in ruins.
Pardee Mines Nos. 40 to 44 / Arcadia Mines No. 1 to
5 The renumbering was likely due to the Pennsylvania, Beech Creek & Eastern Coal Company entering receivership ca.1907, and emerging in ca.1908 as the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Co. Also, note that in 1907, there is a No. 8 mine listed in place of No. 5 mine....I am still trying to determine which of No. 5 or No. 8 became Arcadia No. 44 in 1908. Unfortunately I have rough locations for No. 5, No. 8, and Pardee No. 44, so it might be more difficult than what we think.
The Arcadia Nos. 40-44 Mines became the Pardee Nos. 40-44
Mines sometime in the 1910s.] |
| HISTORY: Arcadia was established ca.1900; that year, the Clearfield & Indiana Coal Company opened its Arcadia No. 1 and Arcadia No. 2 Mines. Production that first year was 12,000 tons of coal, the mines employed 100 men and boys, under superintendent S. H. Hicks. The Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company, Cresson, PA leased land nearby at about the same time and opened five mines, Arcadia No. 40, No. 41, No. 42, No. 43 and No. 44 Mines. Both companies soon built many company houses in the new patch town of Arcadia. The Pittsburgh & Eastern Railroad, from Mahaffey, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, extended its lines to the new mines, but soon afterwards the branch line was taken over by the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company. The first lots were sold in April, 1900. The population by 1913 was 1,200; at the time the town had three churches, meat markets, livery stable, Union Hall, hardware store, several general stores, coal company offices, and a power plant. A school was built in ca.1902 and expanded in ca.1910. Three licensed hotels had closed by ca.1910 due to a strong local Prohibition sentiment. At least two coal company stores also operated in the town. |
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| In 1900 an advertisement described Arcadia
as a "Model Mining Town." By ca.1913 Arcadia had two Coal Company
Stores, meat markets, a livery stable, a United Mine Workers of America hall,
a hardware store, and several general stores. The Pennsylvania Coal
& Coke Company was also constructing a power plant for their mines and
an office building. (Photo courtesy of the private collection of John Busovicki of Clymer, PA.) |
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| Three of the churches in Arcadia, Indiana
County, PA. One of these churches was a Presbyterian Church, organized
soon after the coal patch town was founded. The other two are not
identified. One church was Roman Catholic, the other appears to have
a Russian or Greek Orthodox spire. The town was supplied with electricity,
note the power poles, provided by Giant Elcetric Light, Heat & Power
Company of Glen Campbell, PA. (Photo courtesy of the private collection of John Busovicki of Clymer, PA.) |
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| Clark Avenue, Arcadia, PA, looking down
from the school house.
(Photo courtesy of the private collection of John Busovicki of Clymer, PA.) |
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| The school house in Arcadia, PA, with one
of the miners house in the background. (Photo courtesy of the private collection of John Busovicki of Clymer, PA.) |
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| The Aracdia House, Arcadia, Indiana Co.,
PA (Photo courtesy of the private collection of John Busovicki of Clymer, PA.) |
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| Undated photo of the Arcadia Cornet Band,
Arcadia, Indiana Co., PA (Photo courtesy of the private collection of John Busovicki of Clymer, PA.) |
| The Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company began mining
operations in the "E" coal seam in the Arcadia vicinity about ca.1900. By
1913 three mines were operating here and one at nearby Wilgus, employing
a combined total of 550 men and boys; 2,000 tons of coal a day were
being produced in 1913. The drift mines were vented by Pollock and
Stine fans.
Four of the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company mines were active in 1914: Arcadia No. 40, No. 41, No 43 and No. 44; total coal tonnage that year was over 259,000 tons, and 484 men were employed. A. O. Sommerville was plant superintendent. Victor No. 11 Mine, operated by Ellsworth - Dunham Coal Comapny, worked almost continuously during 1903. They have pushed the work very well and are driving headings to the left so as to intersect with the new slope they put down in 1902, about one mile above Victor No. 11 Mine. They have built a large power house at this mine and will put in haulage motors and coal cutters. The mine was in good condition in 1903. Two mines were being operated at Arcadia in 1914, by the Ellsworth-Durham Coal Company, Victor No. 11 and Victor No. 14 Mines; these mines employed 176 miners in 1914. In 1920 the Victor No. 11 Mine and Victor No. 14 Mine produced 108,194 tons of coal, and had 119 employees, the mines worked 213 days in 1920. In ca.1917 the Arcadia No. 40, No. 41, No. 42, No. 43, No. 44 Mines produced a total of 342,742 tons of coal, and employed 343 men and boys. The mines had 4 tubular boilers, that produced 589 horse power, 3 steam of 577 hors power and 4 electric dynamos the produced 525 kilo-watts. The mines had 23 mules, 4 gasoline locomotives and 9 electric locomotives. In ca.1919 the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Corp. changed the names of the Arcadia Mines to the "Pardee Mines No. 40, No. 41, No. 42, No. 43 and No. 44, they produced a total of 158,418 tons of coal with 317 employees, with 2 non-fatal accidents. By the mid-twentieth century, some of the mining operations at Arcadia were being conducted by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corp. A number of other mines were in operation around Arcadia. A former miner Mike Gulick described several of these. Arcadia Mine No. 3 was in later years operated by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corp., a company affiliated with the New York Central Railroad which served the town. Arcadia Mine No. 11 was a drift mine located at the present boney pile across the highway northeast of the town. The Peale Coal interests originally developed this mine, but in later years it was operated by the Claerfield Bituminous Coal Corp. Mine No. 2 was located above the large boney pile. Two other mines operated a short distance away, one in a hollow east of the town, and another on the hill behind the Tasty Freeze ca.1993. These mines may have been the Ellsworth-Dunham Coal Company's Victor Mines. The houses in Arcadia were sold off into private ownership ca.1948. More than 100 houses were still present in the 1950's, when the mines began to shut down. A number of the houses have since burned. Others have been demolished. In 1993 about thirty of the older houses survived. All the mines are shut down and very little remains to mark their presence except for huge piles of boney and slate. The railroad has been dismantled, with only the roadbed remaining, the Union Hall has partially collapsed, and a whole street of houses has disappeared. (History and description of Arcadia Mines, adapted with additional data and photos from "Indiana County, Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, 1993," America's Industrial Heitage Project, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record, U.S. Department of the Interior, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) |
| "Coal Miners
Memorial, Arcadia Mines, Arcadia, Montgomery Twp., Indiana County, Pennsylvania" |
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