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| DESCRIPTION: Iselin, a coal company patch town, was established in ca.1903 by the Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company, a another subsidiary firm of the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company, is located in southeastern Young Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Most of the more than 200 company houses built here by the coal company for its workers survive, along with the coal company store building, much altered, mine office, and doctor's office. 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 miners families, are much larger. The T-Plan houses are built on full basements accessed by a flight of steps to a central shed porch. The houses had privies (out-houses) and coal sheds in the rear, a few of which remain. At one time all the coal company owned houses in Iselin were painted a uniform gray color, the standard company house color used on all Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Co. owned houses, most now have some form of synthetic siding over the original clapboard. |
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| Undated photograph of several of the larger
double family coal company miners houses in Iselin. These houses have
been torn down. (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
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| Some of the single family miners houses
which are located on the lower road, on the hill above the former mine complex
in Iselin. (Photos by Ray Washlaski, ca.2002.) |
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| Some of the double family miners houses
which are located on top of the hill above the former mine complex
in Iselin showing various alterations. (Photo by Scott Brown, courtesy of the Historic American Building Survey / Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.) |
| The Iselin Mines office building, 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 ca.1914. |
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| The former Iselin Mines Pittsburgh Gas Coal
Company office building in Iselin, PA, has been converted into a private
residence. The former coal company doctors office can be seen to the
right. (Photo by Ray Washlaski, ca.2002.) |
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| The former Iselin Mines Pittsburgh Gas Coal
Company office building in Iselin, PA, has been altered with infilled door
opening, the porch on the lower side of the building has been removed , and
the building converted into a private residence. One of the former
coal company bosses houses can be seen behind to the left. (Photo by Ray Washlaski, ca.2002.) |
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| The former coal company doctor's office
for the Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company, Iselin Mines, Iselin, PA.
ca.1990 (Photo by Richard Quin, courtesy of the Historic American Building Survey / Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.) |
| The small doctor's office next door to the
coal company office building is of a hollow tile construction, covered by
a hipped roof. A smaller hip roof covers the small side porch, a porch
of the street side has been removed.
The coal company doctor's house in the Iselin patch,
ca.1910. |
| The Company Store The Iselin coal company store, a large brick structure, has been substantially altered, and serves as the local fire hall. Several articles refer to the Iselin Company Store being used as the railroad station in Iselin, these articles are incorrect, as the Buffalo Rochester & Pittsburg Railroad Station in Iselin was located in the valley below the town. A railroad switch back served the Iselin Store. |
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| Undated photograph of the coal company store
in Iselin, PA, showing how it looked when the mines were active. This
large store served all the Iselin Mines, and the surrounding area. (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
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| The Mahoning Supply Company Iselin Store
ca.1906. The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway siding that
served to company store which came up the hill on a switchback from the Iselin
Branch Line was located to the right of the building (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA. Source Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company Media Collection, MG94: Series III, Box 10 Photographs, P-483.) |
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| Undated photograph showing the interior
of the Mahoning Supply Company Store in Iselin, PA, when the Iselin Mines
were active. The coal company owned store supplied the mining towns
with just about all the miners and their families needs. This large
full service store served all the Iselin Mines, and the surrounding
area. (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA Source Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company Media Collection, MG94: Series III, Box 10 Photographs.) |
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| The Iselin Company Store before the second story was removed. |
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| The front of the former Iselin coal company
store, showing the the removal of the second story and the brick infill of
the display windows and the front of the store building, when it was convert
for use by the Iselin Fire Company. (Photo by Ray Washlaski, ca.2002.) |
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| Undated photograph coal company store in
Iselin, showing the many changes and alterations made to the building when
it was converted for use by the Iselin Fire Company. The Buffalo,
Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway siding for the former Coal Company Store
came up the hill on a switchback to this side of the building. (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
| The coal patch town of Iselin had two active churches
at one time, one Roman Catholic and one Protestant.
The inter-denominational Protestant church was built at the top of the hill below the water tower, but due to the large number of Catholics in the town, Holy Cross parish remained the larger of the two. |
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| The Former Holy Cross Catholic Church building and rectory
in Iselin, Young Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, ca.2002. The
church was closed by the Diocese of Greensburg, and is now privately
owned. (Photo by Ray Washlaski, ca.2002.) |
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| Construction Drawing showing the Front elevation
of the Holy Cross Church in Iselin, PA (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA) |
| DYNAMITE WRECKS ALTAR Charge Explodes in Pennsylvania Catholic Church Damages Auditorium |
| Indiana, Penn Jan 1, 1911 An effort was made today to destroy the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church at Iselin, near here, with dynamite, Only a portion of the explosive, which had been placed under the altar, went off, but it wrecked the Sanctury and a portion of the auditorium. There is no clue to the perpetrators. [from the "New York Times," New York, NY, Jan. 2, 1911.]
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| The 1915 First Holy Communion Class, Holy Cross Catholic
Church, Iselin, Pennsylvania (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Section, IUP Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA Source Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company Media Collection, MG94: Series II, Box 1.)
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| The Holy Cross Catholic Church in Iselin, PA, built ca.1908, was closed sometime in the 1980's and the building was scheduled to be moved to Aultman, PA, but the move was never done, and the church building and rectory were sold and are now privately owned. |
| The Diocese of Greensburg closed three of the former coal company patch town catholic churches in the area and formed a new parish The Church of the Good Shepherd, Kent, PA, which is made up of parishioners from the former St. Anthony Church in Aultman, St. Gertrude Church in McIntyre and Holy Cross Church in Iselin. |
Rochester & Pittsburg Coal Company, Iselin Mine Office
Personnel, ca.1910, at branch office in Iselin, PA. Front far left:
Superintendent Patterson; Third from left: Mr. Manners, Mule Barn Boss.
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| HISTORY: Iselin was the second major 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 subsidiary company, the Pittsburgh Gas Coal Company, and purchased 6,000 acres in the Elder's Ridge area in November 1902. The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad began construction of a rail line extension south from Creekside in 1903, employing 675 men under the subcontractors King, Clement & Shoemaker. Coal mining began at this location even before the new coal company town was built. Two dirft mines were opened by August, 1903. The Hyde-Murphy Company, which was completing the coal company houses at Ernest, was conrtracted with again for the new 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 1904, and the new mines continued to expand. The thirty-nine room Iselin hotel was built in 1904, at a cost of $9,000 by Charles Rowe. The town also soon had a railroad station, coal company store, doctor's office, theater, churches, cemetery and a school building. (History and description of Iselin Mines, adapted with additional data and many 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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| The Iselin Italian Band, possibly at the
offices of Rochester & Pittsburg Coal Company, in Indiana, PA,
ca.1910. (Photo courtesy of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Special Collections Library, Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company Media Collection, MG 94: Series III, Box 1 Photographs, Folder: Iselin.)
The Iselin Italian Band at a parade in Indiana, PA during
World War I, ca.1915, band Director: T. Di Prospero. |
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