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| Whitney Mine & Coke Works
(ca.1892-1960's), Location: 1/10 mile south of the Village of Whitney and east of SR 2027, on the Whitney Spur of the Unity Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Whitney, Unity Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA Owners: (ca.1889-1900?) Hostetter Coke Company, Pittsburgh, PA Hostetter - Connellsville Coke Company, Pittsburgh, PA Company Store: Farmers Trading Company (ca.1900?-1928) H.C. Frick Coke Company, Scottdale, PA Company Store: Union Supply Company (ca.1920) Mine was run under the Hostetter-Connellsville Coke Company name. (ca.1941-1960's) leased by Jamison Coal & Coke Company, Greensburg, PA (ca.1960's-1980's) C.W. Brown Coal Company, Whitney, PA |
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| Portions of the U.S.G.S. Latrobe and Donegal 15min. Quad.
maps, showing the Unity Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Whitney
spur, the Whitney spur continued past the Whitney Mine & Coke Works to
the Ellen Mines & Coke Works. (Maps courtesy of the U.S.Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.) |
| DESCRIPTION: Remains from the Whitney Mine and Coke Works (ca.1993) included the Company office, the ruins of the tipple, and bee-hive coke ovens ca.1994. Most of the Whitney mine dump and coke works have been reclaimed ca.2007, and do not exist today. In addition, a number of concrete-block buildings, erected in the 1950's, remain in place. Most of the Whitney Mine & Coke Works remains have now (ca.1999) been reclaimed and the area planted in grass. The company office is a one-story wood-frame building with a hipped roof, a brick chimney, and a rubble stone foundation. It measures 38' x 31' and is clad with horizontal wood siding and shingles. It retains a large multi-light window on its main facade and its paneled door with transom. The tipple was partially demolished in ca.1988. It was a steel and wood-frame structure resting on concrete piers. Until recently, (ca.1980's), the Brown Coal Company operated the Whitney Mine. Local information report that a battery of bee-hive coke ovens is extant on the hillside south of the tipple; however this area is not easily accessible. |
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Union Supply Company Store, Whitney The old Union Supply Company Store of the H.C. Frick Coke Company in Whitney as it looked in ca.1974, when William and Thomas Washnock closed their Whitney Store for the last time on January 31, 1974. (Photo courtesy of the Latrobe Bulletin, Jan.19, 1974, Latrobe, PA & The coal mining archives collections of the Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
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Whitney Patch Houses No. 6 & No. 7 H.C. Frick Coke Company Whitney Houses No. 6 & 7, showing the fences around the yards and the trees that were planted by the coal company. (Photo courtesy of the Coal Mining Archives of the Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
| The town of Whitney retains about sixty company-built houses, situated in two parallel rows, a managers' row, a boarding house, a company store, and a school. The company-built dwellings that were occupied by the workers are the standard wood-frame two-story double houses found throughout western Pennsylvania's mining towns. These houses have gable roofs, brick chimneys, and rubble stone foundations. Most have been altered with asphaltic or metal siding. |
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H.C. Frick Coke Company Plat Map of
Whitney H.C. Frick Coke Company plat base map of Whitney ca.1962. Showing the Whitney Mine site and the town layout. (Courtesy of USX Corporation Resource Management Division, Uniontown, PA & The Coal & Coke Heritage Center, Penn State University, Fayette Campus, Uniontown, PA) |
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An undated phot of the Coal Company Patch Town of Whitney,
Unity Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. (Photo courtesy of the Coal Mining Archives of the Latrobe Area Histroical Society, Latrobe, PA.) |
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The Coal company Store was the main building in the coal
patch town of Whitney, PA. The Whitney Coke Works can be seen were
the white smoke is laying at the base of the hill behind the houses.
(Photo courtesy of the Coal Mining Archives of the Latrobe Area Histroical Society, Latrobe, PA.) |
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The Coal company Store was the main building in the coal
patch town of Whitney, PA. It was served by a railroad siding, connected
to the buidling by a ramp. (Photo courtesy of the Coal Mining Archives of the Latrobe Area Histroical Society, Latrobe, PA.) |
| A number of wood-frame privies remain in place behind the houses. Managers' row is situated on a hill above the mine; these include wood-frame single-family houses each with two-and-a-half-stories, an L-shaped plan, and an interesting gable roof. These houses have brick chimneys and rest on rubble stone foundations. |
| Now serving as a single-family residence, the Houck Building is a two-story building with stretcher-bond red-brick walls, a hipped roof of asphalt with central dormer, and a rubble stone foundation. The main facade contains three entrances, one of which is near the end of the building and features a wood-paneled double door. The former Houck Building retains its original one-over-one-light double-hung sash windows. |
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The Houck Building. The dance hall
and recreation building located across the highway from the Whitney Patch,
the first floor also contained a confectionery and Billiards Parlor.
(Photo courtesy of the Coal Mining Archives of the Latrobe Area Histroical Society, Latrobe, PA.) |
| NOTE about the Houck Building: At
the bottom of the Whitney pages there is a picture of a large two story building;
a couple photos lower is the Whitney baseball team......Charles G. Houck
is shown standing with the baseball team. It is represented that the large
building was a boarding house for single miners. Nice rumor, but not
true.
That building belonged to Charles G. Houck (my Grandfather) until his death in January of 1989. The picture of the team was shot at the side of the building (living quarters porch behind them) in probably 1937. Lower right hand of photo says "REMPES 37"...Rempes was a good friend of the family and had a successful photography studio in Greensburg, on Pittsburgh Street. That building was across the main road from 'the patch' and was the center of activities. Each evening, if it was warm enough, the local guys would sit on the porchand steps, drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and generally having a good time. Back to the building.......(I was born in 1940)....The whole upstairs of the building was a dance-hall. At the end shown in your photo is a band platform about 12" high and there are two restrooms, one to the left and one to the right of the "STAGE". (notice the vent pipes on the roof) Behind the large flag was (is) a barber shop.."Charlie" passed that business to his nephew, Don Washnok prior to his death. Yes, there was billiards played in the downstairs. Behind the barber shop and the "confectionery" a large room was the "pool-room". My memory only goes back to about 1944....I do remember sitting up on the great big chairs and watching the locals play pool. There were slot machines lining one wall; and punch-boards were available to blow your money on, too. Those double-doors conceal wide steel stairs up to the dance hall. At the back of the building there is another set of stairs also, for fire escape, I would guess. I only remember one or two actual dances with bands up in the hall, but there were a few pretty loud parties held there. After WWII the pool tables were removed. Charlie raised Canaries and Guppies. The canaries were sold as pets and to the mines as gas-detectors. The guppies were mainly for pets to the folks in "the patch". Charlie had a very extensive collection of clocks. As I recall the Pittsburgh Post Gazette came and took photos and interviewed him and claimed about 1200 clocks were in there in their article. He also repaired and rebuilt clocks. Oh, Charlie was also a 'Justice Of The Peace' for Unity Township. He would assist the folks in the area with legal situations. He spoke a smattering of Italian, German, Polish, Slovak and I don't know what all......this helped him help the mixture of folks in the area. As the years passed, the dance-hall became "The Wagon-Wheel" antique shop, run by my Grandmother, Margaret "PEG" Houck. The confectionery became the Justice Of The Peace office. I always enjoyed sitting in his (PAP-PAP's) BIG chair at his BIG desk!! As for why he might be in the photo with the baseball team......everybody got his hair cut by 'Charlie'.....and everyone knew him.....he was a great fan and supporter of that team. Once when I was sitting in the barber shop reading LIFE magazine and listening to the 'grown-ups', a guy came in and said the teams uniforms were in sad shape and they needed new ones for the new season.......Charlie asked how much....the guy gave a figure.....Charlie reached into the register and just gave him the money to purchase new uniforms!! In 1988 Whitney celebrated its 100 year anniversary!! I saw video tape of the party...Charlie was feated as the oldest citizen of Whitney, and a tiny girl was celebrated as the youngest..her last name was Harr. I played at the lake and around the mine debris.......and I used to run across the road to the "Company Store" to buy candy and to pick up items for my Grandparents. I still remember the distinct smell of the store and the oiled wooden floors. By the way, the main road through Whitney is about to become OFFICIALLY "CHARLES HOUCK ROAD"....Quite an honor in my mind! I could keep on going, but I hope I established my credibility and made the point that Houck's building never was used as a boarding house...... Thanks for your time and consideration, Donald J. Crago (son of James A. Crago, who was step-son of Charles G. (GROSS) Houck, and son of Margaret Robb Houck. |
| THE COMPANY STORE |
| The former company store is a one-story wood-frame building with a hipped roof. It measures 72' x 55' and rests on a rubble stone foundation. The building retains part of its original storefront on the first floor. The most drastic alteration has been the removal of the second floor and the installation of a new roof and dormer. |
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| My name is Pam Ferrero, my Grandfather,
Harry, "Pete" to everyone else, Snyder, ran the company store from approximately
1930 until Union Supply company sold him the contents and then he ran his
own business until his death in 1968. The Washnocks purchased the building
but it was my Grandfather's grocery business. I always loved helping my Grandpa
count the money from that old safe mentioned in the article or putting invoices
in order. My brother and I sent many messages on the cable between the butcher
shop and the front of the store. He was the manager, accountant, butcher
and many other miscellaneous duties. My Grandmother is still alive if you
would like the names of the other people that worked in the store. I really
wish that you could mention his name in the article. Harry "Pete" Snyder
sold the people of Whitney all their groceries for around 30 years.
The building was last operated as the Whitney Store, by William and Thomas Washnock, it closed on January 31, 1974. The building was last owned (ca.1993) by the Whitney Oil Company. |
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Office of the Union Supply Company Store
Whitney The office of the old Union Supply Company Store at Whitney as it looked in ca.1974, when the Washnock's closed their Whitney Store. The old safe at the left still has the name of the Union Supply Co. on it. The store was know as Union Supply during the mining era when it was owned by H.C. Frick Coke Company. During the strike of 1894, script was used to pay the miners, and used by the miners to buy goods at the store, and they had to walk to Connellsville to obtain it from the mine owner, The Hostetter - Connellsville Coal & Coke Company. (Photo courtesy of the Latrobe Bulletin, Jan.19,1974 & The archives of the Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
| The Penny Candy Counter, at the Whitney
Store, just before it closed. It is the same counter that the youngsters
of the mining patch bought their candy at. They used to stand and stare
into the penny candy case similar to this one at Whitney. In the mining
days, they did their shopping with a lone penny and took their time. The
case was still in used by the Washnock's, but it contains 15 cent candy bars
and boxes of animal crackers. (Photo courtesy of the Latrobe Bulletin, Jan. 19,1974, Latrobe, PA & the archives of the Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
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| The school is situated on a hill adjacent to the houses on managers' row. It is a one-story building with a full basement and contains Flemish-bond red-brick walls, a hipped roof covered with slate, a stone foundation. The main facade features triple sets of multi-paned double-hung sash windows with stone sills and a brick soldier course forming the lintels. The other facades contain paired twelve-over-twelve-light double-hung sash windows. The entrance contains paneled double doors with transoms. The building is vacant. The northermost section of Whitney contains a group of five double houses that was associated with the Wheyl Coke Company's Mine at Whitney. |
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Whitney Mine Slope Entry Whitney Mine Slope Entry close up after H.C. Frick Coke Company closed the mine ca. 1928, and sealed the entry. (Photo courtesy of Tony Sowansky, from the coal mining archives collection, Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
| HISTORY: In ca.1889 the Hostetter Coke Company of Pittsburgh , owned by Mrs. George I. (Belle) Whitney, Lippincott and the Hostetter family, established the Whitney Slope Mine, and the coal patch town of Whitney, in Unity township. Under the auspices of mine superintendent (ca.1889) John T. Rush , the company constructed 302 bee-hive coke ovens and a number of houses for its employees. The Pennsylvania Railroad's Unity Branch served the Whitney Mine operation. The company name became Hostetter - Connellsville Coal & Coke Company. By ca.1890, the Whitney Mine and Coke Works employed 310 persons. That year the mine produced 120,000 tons of coal, and the coke works produced 85,000 tons of coke. As with the nearby Hostetter Mine, Coke Works and town, the Whitney Mine property was obtained by the H.C. Frick Coke Company in the early 1900's. However, the Whitney Mine & Coke Works continued to operate under the banner of the Hostetter-Connellsville Coke Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the H.C. Frick Coke Company. The 1910's were the most productive years of the Whitney Mine and Coke Works. In ca.1910 production amounted to more than 316,000 tons of coal, and nearly 202,000 tons of coke. The mine and coke works employed 252 persons and the coke works contained 302 bee-hive coke ovens. Five years later 320 employees produced over 320,000 tons of coal and nearly 207,000 tons of coke. |
| In ca.1915, the coke works reached its peak
of operation with 352 bee-hive coke ovens in operation. By the end
of the First World War, the Whitney Mine operation employed 310 persons.
Production at the mine in 1918 amounted to more than 358,000 tons of
coal, and the coke works produced nearly 223,000 tons of coke. These production
levels diminished somewhat in the early 1920's.
In ca.1920 four coal miners were killed in a slate fall in the Whitney Mine of the Hostetter-Connellsville Coke Company. However, despite the slump in demand for coal and coke during this time, and despite the bituminous coal miners strike in 1922, production remained stable at the Whitney Mine and nearby Hostetter Mine. In 1922, the coal miners strike year, the H.C. Frick Coke Company attempted to defy the miners walkout by importing scabs to work their mines, which was the Frick company's usual practice during a work stoppage by its miners, successfully keeping open most of its mines. Thus beating down the poor coal miners once more and reducing their wages, for the benefit of the robber baron's coal company. The Whitney Mine operated 232 days during 1922, producing nearly 277,000 tons of coal with the imported scab labor. (The nearby Hostetter Mine operated 295 days in 1922 and produced nearly 339,000 tons of coal with scab labor.) By the mid-1920's, however, production at Whitney Mine was rapidly declining. The company employed 238 workers at Whitney Mine & Coke Works in 1926 and they produced just over 113,000 tons of coal and 48,400 tons of coke. The following year the Hostetter - Connellsville Coke Company, still controlled by the H.C. Frick Coke Company, employed only twenty-six men at Whitney Mine, producing a mere 8,200 tons of coal and no coke. For a number of years after 1928 the Whitney Mine remained idle. However, it was reopened in 1941 when the Jamison Coal & Coke Company of Greensburg leased the property, along with the nearby Hostetter and Marguerite mines. These operations ceased by the early 1960's. The tipple at Whitney, one of the last remnants of the mine, was partially demolished in 1988. By 1999, just about all traces of the Whitney Mine and Coke Works, along with the slate dump (boney dump) had been reclaimed and the area seeded in grasses. I am a nephew of George Eustis which you have mentioned in the writings in this site. I was born in Whitney in1922. My father was Albert Eustis Sr. He also had worked at Hostetter at one time. When the Whitney mine closed we moved to Washington Co. When we lived in Whitney, we lived in the lower side of the upper house on the hillside as you go up the hill from the patch towards the bosses row.My father was an assistant mine foreman. I started to school there. After moving, we kept in touch with Bert Shirey and the Hess families that lived in the lower of the two houses on the road up to the bosses houses. The upper half of the house we lived in was occupied by a family by the name of Powell, I believe he worked in the office at the mine. I have been back to Whitney many times, the last being about 10 years ago. My home at present is in the northern end of the Catskill Mts. about 45 miles south of Cooperstown, N.Y. The town is named Delhi. I have seen the Whitney computer site and have copied it for preservation of my family history. I will answer any email that comes my way. Charles A. Eustis |
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The closed Whitney Mine slope entrance (ca.1928) shortly
after Hostetter-Connellsville Coke Company, of the H.C. Frick Coke Company
closed down their mining operations. (Photo courtesy of Tony Sowansky, from the coal mining archives collection, Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
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Whitney mine entrance with fan house and mine buggy's
to the left (ca.1928) right after the mine was shut down by the
Hostetter-Connellsville Coke Company. (Photo Courtesy of Tony Sowansky, from the coal mining archives collection, Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
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Whitney Mine Tipple Whitney Mine Tipple (ca.1928) after the mine was shut down. (Photo courtesy of Tony Sowansky, from the coal mining archives collection, Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
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Coke Oven Battery Whitney Mine Tony Sowansky, Jr. (left in straw hat) and Bill Pavel (right) sitting in a coke oven at the Whitney Coke Works, Whitney Mine (ca.1933). (Photo courtesy of Tony Sowansky from the coal mining archives collection, Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
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Coke Oven Larry's, Whitney Mine Tony Sowansky, Jr. (left, in straw hat) and Bill Pavel, right, in front of the coke oven Larry's that were used to load the coke ovens with coal at Whitney Coke Works (ca.1933). (Photo courtesy of Tony Sowansky, from the coal archives collection, Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) |
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Hostetter - Connellsville Baseball Team,
Whitney Undated photo of the Hostetter-Connellsville Coke Company's Whitney baseball team. Miners who were good baseball players usually got special treatment in the mines. (Photo courtesy of "The Beehive Coke Years" by John K. Gates & the Coal and Coke Heritage Center, Penn State University, Fayette Campus, Uniontown) |
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| Whitney Baseball Team,
1936 One of the top Baseball Teams in the Coal Patch Baseball League was the Whitney Team of 1936, the team competed successfully against teams from Hostetter, Baggaley, Derry and Latrobe and other area baseball teams. Members of the Whitney 1936 team: First Row: Bat Boys Bill Britt and John Lezo; Second Row: Frank "Hobo" Kubit, John Chismaric, Harold Taylor, Steve "Doggie" Smolleck, "Hank" Kubit, Willy Kornides and John Dominno; Third Row: Manager Jake Roscoe, John Markovich, John "Sycle" Treskovich, Robert "Skutch" Goodman, Mike "Popeye" Wassil, Steve Kuzio, Joe Treskovich, Andrew "Ginger" Roscoe and Charles G. Houck. (Photo courtesy of the Coal Mining Archives of the Latrobe Area Historical Society, Latrobe, PA) (History and description of the Whitney Mines & Coke Works, with much additional data and pictures adapted from "Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, 1994," 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.) |
| "Coal Miners Memorial,
Whitney Mine & Coke Works, Whitney, Unity Twp., Westmoreland County, PA" |
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