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| Salem No. 1 Mine & Coke Works (Salem
Mine) (ca.1900-1954), located on the New Alexandria Branch, Salem Spur, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, along old U.S. Rt 22, at Quality Road and T 854, west of New Alexandria, Allsworth Station, Salemville, Salem Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA [Allsworth was the name of the Pennsylvania Railroad New Alexandria Branch station at Salemville.] [Salem Coke Works contained 283 bee-hive coke ovens ca.1909.] Owners: (ca.1900-1903), Salem Coal Company, Greensburg, PA (ca.1903-1945), Keystone Coal & Coke Company, Greensburg, PA [Salem Coke Works and coal washer plant operated till ca.1954.] (ca.1945-1955), Atlantic Crushed Coke Company, Greensburg, PA (ca.1955-May, 1960), Eagle Coal Company, Salemville, PA |
| History Salem No. 1 Mine: |
| Salem Coal Company Establishes Salem Mine |
| The Salem Coal Company of Greensburg, led by A.D. Harmon, established the Salem Mine ca.1900, in Salem Township, Westmoreland County. The Salem Coke Works at Salem Mine was started ca.1901. The company also built a number of company houses in the coal company patch town of Salem, later the town was called Salemville, the company also operated a company store. Alexander Coulter served as the Salem Coal Company's first mine superintendent at Salem Mine. |
| Pennsylvania Railroad served the Salem Mine |
| The Salem Mine was served by the Allsworth Station on the Allsworth Spur of the New Alexandria Branch Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, via a wye at the New Alexandria Station and another wye at Frogtown. |
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| Pennsylvania Railroad New Alexandria Station,
the Loyaconna house and store in the background. The Corp. of Engineers,
flood control project, Loyalhanna Lake took the Pennsylvania Railroad property
and demolished the structures, only the concrete support piles of the New
Alexandria Pennsylvania Railroad station, the pond, and coal loading ramp
remain, ca. 1999. At times of high water, Loyalhanna Lake covers all
the Pennsylvania Railroad property in the New Alexandria area. (Photo courtesy of James Bennett and The New Alexandria Bicentennial History Commttee). |
| The Railroad Station at Salemville was called the Allsworth Station, this station was mainly a platform with an inclosed waiting shelter, the location of the station platform and waiting shelter was between the present new US Rt. 22 and the old US Rt. 22, just northwest of the present Loyaconna's garage, ca.1999. From Allsworth Station another branch line ran to the Village of Huron and Huron Mines & Coke Works, the station at Huron was called Dundale Station. These stations were only covered platforms with an enclosed waiting shelter on them. |
| New Alexandria Pennsylvania Railroad
Station The Pennsylvania Railroad Station, New Alexandria Branch, at New Alexandria was typical of Pennsylvania Railroad Stations in design, although quite large for the small branch line. The station area also contained a lumber storage building and a coal loading ramp for trucks, along with a small pond to supply water for the steam engines. |
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Pennsylvania Railroad New Alexandria Station. (Photo courtesy of Ruth Duffield and The New Alexandria Bicentennial History Commttee). |
| The New Alexandria Pennsylvania Railroad Station was located on the Shieldsburg, Salem Township side of Loyalhanna Creek, across the creek, west of New Alexandria. The Alexandria Branch Line enjoyed regular passenger service, with trains departing New Alexandria Station daily at 8:00 A.M. and on Saturday also at 3:00 and 6:00 P.M. |
Pennsylvania Railroad Andrico Branch
Line |
| Construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad
overpass for the Andrico Branch line extending the R.R. to the Andrico Mines,
located just north of the New Alexandria Pennsylvania Railroad station, over
the old PA Rt. 22, and a tributary of Loyalhanna Creek. The area of
the wooden trestel was replaced with an earthen fill, after construction
of the overpass was completed. The New Alexandria covered bridge is
in the background, with New Alexandria across Loyalhanna
Creek. (Photo courtesy of coal mining historian, Peter E. Starry, Jr.) |
| The Colliery at Salem Mine |
| The colliery at Salem Mine contained a frame
tipple, motor house, coal washer plant, coal bins, boiler house, power plant,
compressor house, pump house, fan house, sand drier house, oil house, lamp
house, supply house, supply shed, machine shop, wash house, blacksmith
shop, nurses station, doctors office, hospital building, several barns, granery,
mule shed, office building, coke works and a Company Store. The Salem Coal
Copany also constructed a company patch town of wood-frame duplex houses
for it's workers along with a number of smaller single-family shanty houses
and a number of larger wood-frame houses for the mine bosses, and stone
superintendent's house, these were located just west of the Salem Mine, and
was called Salemville. The original Salem Coal Company water reservoir
was located on a small run just south of Salemville patch, up the hill from
the Boss's Row.
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| Keystone Coal & Coke Company Acquires Salem Mine |
| The Keystone Coal and Coke Company, upon its formation in ca.1902, acquired the Salem Coal Company and the Salem Mine & Coke Works. In ca.1902 the Salem Mine had 272 employees with 50 coke ovens in operation. There were 29,226 tons of coke and 159,302 tons of coal shipped during 1902, the 1st year of ownership by the Keystone Coal & Coke Company. |
| In ca.1903, Martin Hart, a coke worker age
15, was instantly killed at the Coke Works, when he was run over by a
larry. In 1904 Salem Mine had 284 employees and worked 232 days. They produced 227,136 tons of coal and 34.805 tons of coke. In 1906, Nicholes Yarnets, an Italian minner age 50 and married, was killed by a slate fall in Salem Mine and John Flack, a Slavonian age 18 and single, had his leg broken and back injured by being struck by coal cars on the tipple. In 1907 three miners were killed in Salem Mine: Paul Hambroskie, an Austrian miner age 45 married with 3 children, his clothes caught fire from his open light; Andrew Cachurko, an Austrian miner age 25 and single, killed by a slate fall; William Canavan, an Irish Driver age 42 and single, was caught between a car and a pillar and one coke worker, John Monon, an Italian coke worker age 48 married with 2 children, suffocated in a coal bin by coal falling on him at the Coke Works. Six miners were also injured in the Salem Mine in 1907. John Busha, a Slavonian miner age 38 and married, his hand blown off and eye destroyed blasting coal in the mine; John Albertian, an Italian miner age 24 and single, had his foot crushed by a coal buggy; John Repley, an Italian machine loader age 21 and single, had his face and eyes injured by a premature blast at the working face; Michael Evanskovia, a Hungarian miner age 41 and married, had his foot crushed by a slate fall; Joseph Pibchock, a Slavonian machine loader age 25 and single, had his foot crushed by a slate fall; Henry Enz, an American miner age 26 and single, was burned about the face and eyes by an explosion of gas at No. 8 entry. The Salem Coke Works at Salem Mine was one of a few coke works in Westmoreland County operated by Keystone Coal and Coke Company of Greensburg, PA. The Coke Works contained 283 beehive coke ovens. Harry F. Bovard became president of Keystone Coal & Coke Company in ca.1908 and served in this capacity until it was liquidated in ca.1945. The treasurer was Avra Pershing and the stockholders since its beginning were Richard Coulter and George Huff. |
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In 1909 Keystone Coal & Coke Company purchased the
Craig McClelland Farm and several others in Derry Township, an begun the
construction of Keystone Dam to supply water to the Salem Mine and Coke
Works.
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| A newspaper account of August 10,1909 had
this to say about the Dam: "In order to avoid the posibility of a loss
by reason of drought, it is said that the Keystone Coal & Coke Company
has completed the details for an immense reservoir, to be built on the Shirey,
Craig McClelland and Seanor farms in Derry Township, near New
Alexandria." (Latrobe Bulletin, August 10,1909, Courtesy of Harry T.Bortz, New Alexandria, PA) On August 12,1909 the following appeared: "on the first of October, following the harvesting of the crops, the work of converting the fertile acreage, which for years has been turning out abundant crops, into a bed of millions of gallons of water will be undertaken." (Latrobe Bulletin, August 12,1909, Courtesy of Harry T. Bortz, New Alexandria, PA) The farmland was soon converted into what is today Keystone Lake. This 78-acre reservoir was excavated with large horse-drawn scoops, and workmen wearing large wooden shoes tamped down the excavated lake bed. During construction of the lake, a team of horses owned by Ed Jones perished when the scoop they were pulling struck a rock. The scoop flipped over onto the animals, who bolted and drowned in the water. The lake was then allowed to fill with the water from nearby springs and streams. Masons were paid 10 cents an hour to construct the dam, using the soft sandstone shipped from an area quarry, protecting it from erosion. The man-made body of water was capable of containing 220 million gallons of water. The Lake supplied water to the Salem Mine coal washer plant and coke ovens at Salem Mine, it was piped to Salemville via a gravity feed, wooden pipe pipeline seven miles in length. Washing the coal mined from Salem Mine was necessary due to the high content of sulfur in the coal. The pipe used was made of wood, bored out and coated with tar and reinforced with metal bands around it. It crossed Loyalhanna Creek just below the Steel Farm and followed the railroad bed to Salemville. The water was also used to quench the cokes ovens, a process needed to cool the coke after baking. Later to water was piped into Salemville for use in the houses there. The water from Keystone also found alternate uses, such as swimming, fishing and boating although it was posted and not open to the public. Paul Volpe, once a local farmer relates his experiences at Keystone Lake: "We'd go down and swim along the road and up in the small part of the lake, but we'd watch for the constable because the coal company didn't allow us to swim. Everyone would swim, the neighbors, my brother..." Not long after Keystone Lake was excavated, the Stone Lodge (Keystone State Park visitor center today) was built for use as a meeting and vacation house for Keystone Coal & Coke Company officials. It was also called the Stone Bungalow. The lodge is made from hand cut sandstone, hauled in wagons from quarries on local farms. The "higher-ups" (coal company bosses) would hold gala holiday parties in the lodge with their Cadillacs lined up in front. Salem No. 2 Mine (built ca.1938) was located below the breast of the Keystone Lake Dam. |
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| By ca.1910 E.C. Taylor was serving as superintendent of Salem Mine and the mine and coke works employed 451 men and boys. That year the Salem Mine produced nearly 496,000 tons of coal and the coke works produced over 143,000 tons of coke. This was Keystone Coal and Coke Company's single largest operation in Westmoreland County in 1910. | ||
| By ca.1914 Salem Mine has a work force of
445 men and boys who produced the previous year about 552,000 tons of coal,
Salem miners extracted the coal using seven compressed-air-driven mining
machines, hauling coal from the mine with three compressed-air-driven locomotives
and four steam-powered locomotives. Although the mine mules were still used
to haul coal from the working faces of the mine. In ca.1915, Roy Jones, a night watchman at Keystone Lake, drowned while chasing away some trespassing fishermen. His canoe overturned and he became trapped in wires strung through the water to keep out unauthorized anglers. |
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| In 1919 Salem Mine produced 292,257 tons of coal, the coke works produced 60,575 tons of Coke. There were 280 coke ovens with 112 in operation. The coke works was in operation 273 days and the Salem Mine operated 253 days. The mine employed 212 employees, and had 1 fatal accident in 1919. | ||
| In ca.1920 Salem Mine produced 247,197 tons of coal, the coke works produced 65,647 tons of coke. There were 283 coke ovens with 136 in operation. The mine employed 200 employees, and had 1 fatal accident and 2 non-fatal accidents. | ||
| Jamison Mines Leased | ||
| During the years 1922, thur 1930, when Keystone Coal & Coke Company leased the Jamison Coal & Coke Company, Jamison Mines, a Pennsylvania Railroad spur connected the Salem coal plant with the coal works in Crabtree, and probably accounted for a great amount of tonage being processed into coke at Salem Mine Coke Works from the Jamison Mines. | ||
| The boilerhouse contained eight boilers which produced 2,400 horsepower. |
| Six pumps were employed to remove mine water from the Salem Mine. The water was then discharged without treatment into tributaries of Loyalhannah Creek. This water accounted for the many tons of iron-sulfide which was pumped into the stream during the life of the mine, covering the steam bed, banks and rocks and colouring them orange. Even today, fifty years later, the stream has come back to life, but it still retains a lot of this orange colouring on the rocks in the creek. |  |
| Iron Sulfide colored rocks in stream bed. A result of acid mine drainage. |
| Salem No.1 Mine In-active |
| Salem No. 1 Mine was inactive by the mid 1940's. Salem No. 2 Mine (The Keystone Lake Mine) working the low coal seam at Keystone Lake, Derry Twp. was then the main producer for Keystone Coal & Coke Company Salemville Coal Washer Plant and Coke Works. Frank Smith served as mine superintendent from early 1940's. |
| Keystone Coal & Coke Company Liquidated |
| Keystone Coal & Coke Company liquidation was in 1945 and all its holding in Westmoreland County were sold. |
| Atlantic Crushed Coal Company Purchases Mine |
| The Salemville operations were taken over by the Atlantic Crushed Coke Company with John Burkett, president and John Barkley his associate, and Frank Smith was mine superintendent. |
| The coal washer and coke ovens at Salemville were still in production until ca.1954, being supplied with coal from Salem No. 2 Mine at Keystone Lake, Derry Township via trucks. |
| In June of 1955 the Atlantic Crushed Coke Company went bankrupt and its operations at Salemville and Salem No. 2 Mine were sold at public auction. |
| Eagle Coal Company Purchase Holdings |
| The Salemville Mines were purchased in ca.1955 by its former president John Burkett, with Frank Smith mine superintendent. |
| The firm operated under the name of Eagle Coal Company. Most of the deep mining operations were abandoned after 1954 and the last of the coal was stripped mined at Salem No. 2 Mine, now located in Keystone State Park. This operation went on till its final closing in May of 1960. After 1960 the coal plant structures in Salemville and the mines were abandoned and left to ruin, which was a common practice in the coal industry at that time. |
| Salemville Mines Reclaimed |
| Congressman John Dent purchased the Eagle Coal Company holdings at Salemville and the Salem No. 1 Mine and used his influence to have the State of Pennsylvania, Bureau of Mines, conduct a reclaimation project at the Salemville Mine site. During which time most of the mine structures and coke works were demolished or covered over and the slate dump (boney dump) at Salemville reclaimed and reprocessed for use as fuel in electric generating power plants. The large concrete tanks of the coal washer plant were pulled over and covered with dirt. The concrete structure of the Coal Tipple and the concrete foundations of the Wash House and a few concrete pads are the only remaining structures marking the site of Salem No. 1 Mine. |
| Continue your Tour - Salem No. 1 Mine Complex |
| Links to Salemville, Pennsylvania
History The Carpatho-Rusyn Miners of Salemville Patch
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