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| Bryson, Banks Twp., Indiana Co.,
PA [A coal company patch town in Banks Twp., Indiana County, Pennsylvania.] [Located on the Pennsylvania Railroad.] [Name was changed to Urey.] See: Bryson No. 1 Mine, Bryson, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA Bryson No. 2 Mine, Bryson, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA Urey No. 1 Mine, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA Urey No. 2 Mine, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA
Breisons No. 3, near Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co.,
PA
Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA
Urey No. 1 Mine
Urey No. 2 Mine
Urey No. 3 Mine (ca.1898- ? ), located
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA
Urey No. 4 Mine (ca.1908- ? ), located
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA
Urey No. 5 Mine (ca.1908- ? ), located
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA
Urey No. 6 Mine (ca.1908- ? ), located
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA
Urey No. 7 Mine (ca.1917- ? ), located
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana Co., PA
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| A portion of the U.S. Geological Survey,
Punxsutawney, PA 15min. quad Map 1906 ed. showing Urey and the Pennsylvania
Railroad spur line from Glen Campbell to Urey. (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 1942ed. showing Urey and the Pennsylvania
Railroad spur line from Glen Campbell to Urey. (Courtesy of the U.S. G. S., Washington, D.C.) |
| DESCRIPTION: The small coal patch hamlet of Urey, located in eastern Banks Township north of Glen Campbell Borough, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, was first established as the village of "Bryson" in ca.1889, when coal mining started in the neighborhood. This rural coal patch settlement was never very large, and in ca.1993, only half a dozen or so houses remained in the vicinity. The least altered of these houses is a two-story shingled frame house topped by a side-gable composition roof, and joined at the side by a one-story gabled wing. Also, located in Urey is Saints Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Church building, built ca.1916. |
| HISTORY: Coal mining in the Urey area began in ca.1889, when the Passmore & Burns Coal Company opened a mine exploiting the 4 foot to 8 foot thick "B," "C" and "C Prime" coal veins. The mine and small coal patch settlement were first called Bryson. The mine was served by a branch line of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Glen Campbell. The mine employed fifty-six men and boys and produced 60,000 tons of coal in 1889. A second mine was opened in ca.1890, and the two were then named Urey No. 1 Mine and Urey No. 2 Mine. By ca.1891, employment had increased to approximately 128 men and boys, production increased to 65,000 tons of coal. In ca.1893, the mine operations were being conducted by the Urey Ridge Coal Company. Urey Mines No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6 were being worked by 227 men and boys in ca.1908, and production had risen to 129,000 tons of coal. However, by ca.1914, only 133 men and boys were employed at the Urey Mines. No electric power was being provided at the mines as of ca.1914, and all the mining and haulage work was being done using men and mules. In ca.1917 Urey No. 1, No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 Mines produced a total of 113,187 tons of coal and employed 123 men and boys in the mines. The mines power plant had two tubular boilers of 160 horse power, one steam engine of 125 horse power, and one electric dynamo that produced 80 kilo watts of power. The Urey Mines employed 12 mules and had 1 electric locomotive. Miners evidently included many Eastern Europeans, as the local church, buillt in ca.,1916, in Sts. Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Church. Deep drift mining in the area has been over for many years, but some strip mining was still underway in the area ca.1993. (History and description of the Urey Mines, adapted 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.) |
| Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox
Church, Urey, PA
Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church was organized and founded in 1916 by a group of faithful who had originally been part of the membership of the Greek Catholic parish in Arcadia. During this time, the Arcadia parish was experiencing considerable dissent and turmoil over what is now termed the "Orthodox Movement". Several Greek Catholic parishes were leaving the Unia and returning to the true Orthodox Faith of their ancestors. This movement was propagated by St. Alexis Toth, a former Uniate Priest, who himself embraced Orthodoxy. When it seemed very certain that the Church in Arcadia would remain within the Greek Catholic Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, the original group of founders of SS Peter and Paul Church left to organize their own parish. The circle of faithful unanimously resolved at a parish meeting in June, 1916 to petition Archbishop Evdokim of the Russian Orthodox Missionary Diocese of North America to appoint for them a resident priest. In response, the Archbishop appointed Fr Vasily Levdar, who began his assignment on July 2, 1916.
Through the years, the parish grew as long as the coal mines were operating in and near Urey. The closing of the mines, deaths, and mixed marriages with other faiths have all contributed to the decline in membership of the parish. SS Peter and Paul Church began to be serviced by the priest at St Nicholas Church, DuBois, Pennsylvania, in the early 1980s. By ca.1984 Bishop Kyrill of Pittsburgh, PA, took steps to stabilize the life of the parish by officially combining it administratively and spiritually with St. Nicholas Church. Since then the small parish has enjoyed a full Liturgical schedule and activities such as Church School & Adult Education classes, fund raising projects, and most recently, the renovation and renewal of the church building. On August 16, 1997, a new Altar Table (Prestol) was consecrated by His Eminence, Archbishop Kyrill along with the newly renovated Temple. It is our prayer that this will be a "new beginning" and that the Lord will "preserve this Holy House until the end of the world" as we pray during the Liturgy of St Basil the Great. (Parish information courtesy of "The Orthodox Church in America.") |
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Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church, Urey, PA
(Photo by George R. Warholic, courtesy of George R. Warholic Cemetery web site.) |
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Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church Cemetery,
Urey, PA (Photo by George R. Warholic, courtesy of George R. Warholic Cemetery web site.) |
| Urey, Pennsylvania and surrounding area
historical timeline.
by Jeff Lovich
1840-1860 - The heyday of lumbering. Huge amounts of timber were floated down the West Branch of the Susquehanna River from the areas forests (Tonkin, 1940; 1958). 1843 - Frank Urey builds a log cabin near Urey on 100 acres of still forested property. The cabin burns down in the winter of 1843-44 (Stewart, 1913). 1853 - Robert J. Beckett was born in 1853 on the homestead owned by his mother Margery (shown on the tax plat of 1870-1871) near one of the southernmost tributaries of Bear Run (Arms and White, 1880). He was one of the first non-Native American children born in the local area. 1868 - Banks Township was formed out of Canoe Township (Stewart, 1913). 1870 - Banks Township (including Urey) had a population of 749 (Beers and Company, 1871). 1871 - Area north of Urey is still known on maps of the day as “The Wilderness” (Beers and Company, 1871). The Graham Tract of timber in present day State Game Lands #174 immediately north of Urey is rated as by far the most valuable in Indiana County (Stewart, 1913). 1877 - Frank Urey dies November 22 at 83 years of age. He and his wife are buried in Urey Cemetary. 1889 - The coal patch town of Urey was first established as Bryson (http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.com/indurey.html). 1890 - Logging of the area concluded around this time as the mine shacks were built by the lumber company (Brophy, 1964). 1895 - Brophy Sr. comes to work at Urey mines in July (Brophy, 1964). 1895 - There are still “a very few” Native Americans in the vicinity of Urey (Brophy, 1964). 1901 - Logging is no longer the principle industry of Banks Township (Stewart, 1913). 1906 - Vasil Laseration (Lazeration) arrives in the United States about this time (through Ellis Island) and makes his way to Urey via Janesville, PA. 1916 - Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church organized and founded. 1957 - Strip mining is extensive in and around Urey by this time as shown in aerial photos of the area. |
| "Coal Miners Memorial,
Urey Mines Urey, Banks Twp., Indiana County, Pennsylvania" |
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