|
|
|
|
| Port Royal Coal & Coke
Company See: Port Royal Coke Works, South Huntingdon Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA Port Royal No. 1 Mine, South Huntingdon Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA Port Royal No. 2 Mine, Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA See also: Pittsburgh Coal Company, Pittsburgh, PA
Port Royal Coke Works
(ca.1883?-1910's),
Port Royal No. 1 Mine
(ca.1883-1910's),
Port Royal No. 2 Mine
(ca.1883-1901), |
 |
 |
| A portion of the U.S.G.S. 15 min. topo map of the ca.1906
Brownsville, PA Quad. showing Port Royal and Fritzhenry. (Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.) |
| DESCRIPTION: In ca.1994, most of the remaining houses in the town of Fritzhenry are located on a hill above the Youghiogheny River. The main road, Fritzhenry Street, is lined with eighteen coal company-built houses. These include ten two-story wood-frame double houses (the standard miners' house in this area of western Pennsylvania), a large two-story wood-frame boarding house, and seven two-story wood-frame single-family houses. The boarding house has a front gable roof and retains much of its original appearance. The town of Fritzhenry, in ca.1994, also contained the Mount Olive Church, a one-story wood-frame building with a gable roof. Along the Youghiogheny River, below the town, stands boss's row, consisting of five residential buildings and the former schoolhouse. The southermost house is a two-story stone building and may have been constructed as early as ca.1850's. It reportedly served as a farmhouse but was later taken over by the coal operators at Fritzhenry. North of the stone house is the mine superintendent's house, a large two-story wood-frame building, with a gable roof. Next to the superintendent's house is a one story brick building with a gable roof. This was built about ca.1890 and served as a schoolhouse. North of the former schoolhouse stands two wood-framed double houses, each containing two stories and brick chimneys. The coal company store was destroyed by a fire and none of the structures relating to the mining complex are extant. |
| HISTORY: As early as ca.1883 the Port Royal Coal & Coke Company opened a shaft-entry mine on farmland along the Youghiogheny River, south of Fitzhenry called the Port Royal Mine. The Port Royal Coal & Coke Company constructed dwellings for its workers at Fritzhenry, which was also called Port Royal. J. M. Owens served as superintendent of the Port Royal Mine and its forty workers. By 1886 the company employed fifty-five miners at Fritzhenry and was led by H. C. Marshall. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad served the Port Royal Mines. The mine was idled for several months in ca.1886 by the coal miners strike. That year, despite the work stoppage, Port Royal miners produced over 32,000 tons of coal in ca.1886. At this time miners as Fritzhenry used picks and shovels to remove the extract the coal. However, in ca.1886 Port Royal Coal & Coke Company installed as air compressor so that pneumatically powered mining machines could be used in the mine. By ca.1890 Isaac Brown was superintendent of the Port Royal Mine at Fritzhenry. Near the mine was the Port Royal Coke Works, operated by the Port Royal Coal & Coke Company. The coke works contained sixty bee-hive coke ovens. In ca.1890 the mine produced about 74,000 tons of coal and the coke works produced about 15,000 tons of coke. Eighty-two miners were employed by the Port Royal Coal & Coke Company at Fritzhenry. Among the many companies acquired soon after the formation of the giant Pittsburgh Coal Company in ca.1899 was the Port Royal Coal & Coke Company and the Royal Royal No. 1 Mine & Coke Works and Port Royal No. 2 Mine. In ca.1900, Pittsburgh Coal Company also ran the Port Royal No. 1 Mine and Coke Works. This operation employed 155 miners who produced about 92,000 tons of coal. The Port Royal Coke Works, which contained sixty-one bee-hive coke ovens, produced about 18,000 tons of coke. The Port Royal No. 2 Mine was abandoned and sealed in Oct.,1901. |
Hotel Henry, Fitzhenry, South Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland
Co. |
| To Select another Index to Westmoreland County Coal Mines Click on the Larry cars for Index Page or on a Letter below |
 |
| Select another Index to the Coal Mines
of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania [Click on a letter to take you to that Index]
|
| Return to the Main County Index for Southwestern Pennsylvania Coal Mines |
| Local History
Sites Links to other coal mining sites |
Reference Sources for Southwestern Pennsylvania Coal Mines | The New Message Boards have not worked, Use our guestbook. Email the Editor. | Have
information to add on Westmoreland County Coal Mines? E-Mail the Editor |
|
View the "Old Miner's" Guestbook |
Let the Old Miner know you've been here. Sign the "Old Miner's" Guestbook |
 FastCounter by LinkExchange |
If you have additional information or pictures on the Coal
Mines of Westmoreland County, PA Contact: Ray Washlaski, Editor Copyright 2001, All rights reserved, by Raymond A. Washlaski, Ryan P. Washlaski & The 20th Century Society of Western Pennsylvania. Web site Design by "Mercers, an Undertakers" Web Design Company |
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
