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| Iselin No. 1 Mine
(ca.1903-1935), Located on the Ridge Branch of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad, on Harpers Run, at Iselin, Young Twp., Indiana Co., PA Owners: (ca.1903- ? ), Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company, Indiana, PA (ca.1920- ? ), Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company, Indiana, PA (ca.1930-1935), Helvetia Coal Mining Company,
Iselin No. 2 Mine
(ca.1903-1935),
Iselin No. 3 Mine (Whiskey Run Mine)
(ca.1906-1929),
Iselin No. 4 Mine (Nesbit Run Mine)
(ca.1910-1928),
Iselin No. 5 Mine (Hart Town Mine)
(ca.1910-1929),
Big Run, Young Twp., Indiana Co., PA
Big Run No. 1 Mine
Big Run No. 2 Mine |
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company subsidiary
Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company developed seven Mines in Young Township, Indiana
County, Pennsylvania area, along the Elder Ridge Branch of the Buffalo, Rochester
& Pittsburgh Railroad. Iselin No. 1 Mine and Iselin No. 2 Mine
were developed on Harpers Run, along with the coal company town of Iselin.
Iselin No. 3 Mine and Iselin No. 5 Mine were on Whiskey Run, with the
coal company patch towns of Whiskey Run and Hart Town. Iselin No. 4
Mine was on Nesbit Run with the coal company patch town of Nesbit Run.
Fritz No. 1 Mine and Frtiz No. 2 Mine were developed on Big Run with
the coal company patch town of Big Run. All of these towns, with the exception
of Iselin, have passed into history, and are now Coal Mining Ghost
Towns. |
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| A portion of the U.S.G.S. ca.1904 Elders
Ridge, PA 15 min. quad map showing the coal patch town of Iselin, Young Township,
Indiana Co., PA The Elders Ridge Branch of the Buffalo, Rochester
& Pittsburgh Railroad, had entensive yards in the valley of Harpers Run,
below Iselin, as well as a railroad station. (Map courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.) |
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| One of the mine openings at Iselin No. 1
or No. 2 Mines, the building on the hill above the opening is a fan house,
used to ventilate the mine, and provide fresh air at the working faces.
The large ventilating fan is located on the right side of the
building. (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
| DESCRIPTION: Iselin, established in ca.1903 by the Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company, a subsidiary firm of the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company, is located in southeastern Young Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Most of the more than 200 coal company miners houses built here survive, along with the much altered coal company store, mine office, and doctor's office. The mining complex itself has been dismantled and the most of the area were the mines were located has been stripmined. Several types of company houses were constructed by the Hyde-Murphy Company, general contractors. The common single-family house is a weatherboarded frame structure resting on a stone foundation, and is topped by a slate roof. The double-family houses, which sheltered two families, are much larger. The T-Plan houses are built on full basements, with access by a flight of steps to a central shed porch. The houses had privies and coal sheds in the rear, a few of which remain. All houses were originally painted a uniform gray color, most now have some form of synthetic siding applied over the weatherboard. |
| The Iselin Mine complex was located in the valley of Harper's Run, below the coal company patch town of Iselin. The mine building complex and accompanying railroad yards have been removed, though one mine portal is supposedly intact. The mine office, now a private residence, is a brick structure, 36 feet X 18 feet, built on a stone foundation and topped by a hipped roof. It was built in 1914. The smaller doctor's office next door is of a tile construction, also covered by a hipped roof. The coal company store, a large brick structure, has been substantially altered with the removal of the second floor and other changes, it now serves as the local fire hall. The town had two churches, one Catholic and one Protestant. The Holy Cross Parish Catholic Church building was scheduled to be moved to Aultman, but the move was never done, and the building was being used as a day-care center, but by ca.2008 seems to be abandoned. |
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Undated photo of the Iselin Mine tipple and power
house. (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
| HISTORY: Iselin was the second major coal company town established by the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company, and was built by its subsidiary firm Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company. After completing work on the mining complex and the coal company town at Ernest, the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company began to develop a second major coal field in the Elder's Ridge area in southern Young Township of Indiana County. Lucius Robinson, president of Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company, formed another of its subsidiary companies, the Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company, and purchased 6,000 acres in the Elder's Ridge area of Young Township, Indiana County in November, 1902. The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad began construction of a rail line extension south from its Creekside terminal in ca.1903, employing 675 men under the subcontractors King, Clement & Shoemaker Company. Coal mining began at this location even before the new coal company patch town of Iselin was built. Two drift mines, Iselin No. 1 Mine & Iselin No. 2 Mine, were opened by August, 1903. The Hyde-Murphy Company, which was completing the coal company built houses at Ernest, was contracted with again to build the new coal company town, and had twelve houses completed by September, 1903. The new town was named Iselin, after Adrian Iselin, the chief investor in the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company. The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad "Elders Ridge Branch line" to Iselin was completed in ca.1904, and the new mines continued to expand. The thirty-nine room Iselin Hotel was built in ca.1904, at a cost of $9,000 by Charles Rowe. The town also soon had a railroad station located below the town, coal company store, doctor's office, theater, two churches, cemetery and a school building. (History and description of Iselin Mines, adapted with additional data and pictures 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.) |
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| Motormen and their mine motors outside the
Iselin Mines. The coal company owned miners houses can be seen up the
hill on the right. (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
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| The First Aid Team for the Iselin Mines,
during a First Aid Meet, with teams from other local mines.
(Photo courtesy of the collections of the Historical & Genealogical Society of Indiana County, Indiana, PA) |
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| Iselin Mines First Aid Team ca.1916.
(Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA. Source: Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company Media Collection, MG 94: Series III, Box 1 Photographs, Folder: Iselin.) |
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| Iselin Mines First Aid Team, ca.1916.
(Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA. Source: Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company Media Collection, MG 94: Series III, Box 1 Photographs, Folder: Iselin.) |
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