267:
coke, Pittsburgh-seam mines vastly increased their production from 4.3 million tons of coal in 1880 to a peak of forty million tons in 1916. Most of the pre-1900 growth in coal output occurred in the
Connellsville district. However, the iron and steel industry's demand rose so rapidly that it became clear by 1900 that this district could not satisfy demand by itself. During the 1900s and 1910s, mine companies exploited the Lower Connellsville district of the Pittsburgh seam, adding greatly to total output. The growth of Pittsburgh-seam mining was so massive, and so intertwined with coke production for the iron and steel industry, that the late nineteenth and early twentieth century has been called the "Golden Age of King Coal, Queen Coke and Princess Steel."
263:
proportion of carbon, which accelerates combustion, and a low proportion of impurities, including ash and moisture, which retards combustion. Pittsburgh coal also has a low proportion of sulfur, which is critical to making high-quality iron. In addition, the
Pittsburgh seam was located close to Pittsburgh, then the center of the growing American iron and steel industry. Coke had to be transported by water or rail to iron furnaces, and the Pittsburgh seam's proximity to iron furnaces gave the bed another competitive advantage over more distant coal seams that could produce coke.
259:
works. To make coke, coal is burned under controlled conditions to drive off volatile matter (gases expelled when coal is burned), leaving carbon and ash from the coal fused together in the form of coke. They made coke in turf-covered "mounds," in which coal burned slowly and without oxygen to drive off impurities. The adoption of beehive coke ovens in the 1830s spurred the use of
Pittsburgh-seam coal in iron furnaces, and these ovens made better-quality coke than mounds.
375:
181:
17:
138:(330–265mya) eras in a subsiding foreland basin that was filled in with sediments eroded from an ancient landmass located to the east. The Monongahela Group and other northern and central Appalachian Basin (fig. 1) Pennsylvanian sediments were deposited on an aggrading and prograding coastal plain within a foreland basin adjacent to the Alleghanian fold and thrust belt.
248:
domestic and light industrial use. The primary reason for the switch from wood to coal was one of economics. In 1809, a cord of wood cost $ 2.00 and a bushel of coal cost $ 0.06, delivered. The coal was plentiful and laborers, working in mines within a mile of
Pittsburgh, earned about $ 1.60 per week and could produce as many as 100 bushels of coal daily.
247:
methods. By 1830, the city of
Pittsburgh consumed more than 400 tons per day of bituminous coal for domestic and light industrial use. In the early 19th century, Pittsburgh coal became the city's primary fuel source: about 250,000 bushels (approximately 400 short tons) of coal were consumed daily for
141:
The
Pittsburgh coal bed formed during a hiatus in active clastic deposition that allowed for the development of a huge peat mire. The extensively thick peat deposit was destined to become one of the most valuable energy resources in the world. The distribution of some of the sediments, particularly
270:
Beginning in the 1910s, important technological and industrial changes spelled the end of the
Pittsburgh seam's importance. By-product coke ovens, which yielded more coke per ton from coal, replaced most beehive coke ovens from 1910 to 1940. By-product ovens utilized coal that was lower quality than
266:
The mining of
Pittsburgh-seam coal boomed off after 1860 as the rapidly expanding iron and steel industry adopted coke. The output of the iron and steel industry burgeoned during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as demand for steel products surged. To meet the corresponding demand for
258:
Exploitation of the
Pittsburgh-seam coal began slowly. Initially, blacksmiths and foundrymen made coal into coke to use in their hearths and small furnaces. During the early nineteenth century, entrepreneurs in western Pennsylvania adapted British coke-making practices to produce coke for local iron
283:
Despite two centuries of mining, about 16 billion short tons of resources remain, with the largest remaining block in southwestern
Pennsylvania and adjacent areas of West Virginia. Much of the remaining resource to the south of Marion County, W. Va., and west through much of Ohio is high in ash and
417:
Susan J. Tewalt, Leslie F. Ruppert, Linda J. Bragg, Richard W. Carlton, David K. Brezinski, Rachel N. Wallack, and David T. Butler, 2000. Chapter C - A Digital Resource Model of the Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh Coal Bed, Monongahela Group, Northern Appalachian Basin Coal Region. U.S. Geological
200:
from the fort. The coal was extracted from drift mine entries into the Pittsburgh coal seam at outcrop along the hillside about 200 feet above the river. The coal was poured into trenches dug into the hillside, rolled to the edge of the river, and transported by canoe and boats to the military
149:, that is, an old eroded surface. For this reason, the Pittsburgh seam is taken as the basal member of the Monongahela Group. The underlying erosion surface is considered the top of the Conemaugh Group, formerly known as the Lower barren measures because this formation contains few coal seams.
279:
surge as steel mills adopted alternative fuels such as natural gas and oil and improved the energy efficiency of iron furnaces. Another major blow came during the late 1970s and 1980s as the American steel industry closed many steel mills in the Pittsburgh region and elsewhere. The decline of
262:
Pittsburgh-seam coal, especially the highest-quality coal found in the Connellsville district, was the best coal in America for making coke. When converted into coke, it was sufficiently strong to withstand the weight of iron ore that was piled with coke inside iron furnaces. It has a high
280:
Pittsburgh-seam mining brought large-scale social and economic changes to southwestern Pennsylvania, as unemployment climbed, the region lost population due to out-migration, businesses dependent on coal miners' income folded, and municipalities had declining tax bases.
171:
The Pittsburgh coal seam is laterally extensive. It commonly occurs in southwestern Pennsylvania in two benches, and the lower bench can be over six feet thick. The Pittsburgh rider coal bed, which overlies the lower bench, can range from 0 to 3 feet in thickness.
657:
Puglio, D.G., 1983, Production, distribution, and reserves of bituminous coal, in Majumdar, S.K., and Miller, E.W., eds., Pennsylvania coal—Resources, technology, and utilization: Easton, Pa., Pennsylvania Academy of Science Publications, p. 25–42, as cited at
540:, and Wiltschko, D.V., 1989, Alleghanian orogen, in Hatcher, R.D., Jr., Thomas, W.A., and Viele, G.W., eds., The Appalachian-Ouachita orogen in the United States: Boulder, Colo., Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. F–2, p. 223–231
168:. When the sea level fell, coal formed from the remains of swampland. Some of the coal beds in the Monongahela group are erratic, sometimes little more than a black streak in the rock, while others are of commercial importance.
610:, 1796; the notation "Coal Mines" is opposite the foot of Wood Street (identified from modern maps, with reference to the market square), the extent of mining is indicated by the dotted line parallel to the face of the bluff.
201:
garrison. Sometime around 1765, a fire broke out in this mine, which continued to burn for years, leading to collapse of part of the face of the hill. Mining rights were formally purchased from the chiefs of the
20:
Extent of the Pittsburgh coal seam in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, excluding the deposit in Maryland. Note that the southwestern portion of the seam is of negligible economic importance.
571:
Chapter 5 in "The Effects of Subsidence Resulting from Underground Bituminous Coal Mining on Surface Structures and Features and Water Resources: Second Act 54 Five-Year Report", PADEP, 2005.
255:, particularly for iron blast furnaces. It fostered the development of much of southwestern Pennsylvania, particularly a section of the Pittsburgh seam known as the Connellsville district.
670:
Eavenson, H.N., 1938. The Pittsburgh coal bed; its early history and development: American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers Transactions, v. 130, p. 1–55, as cited at
594:[Roen, J.B., Kent, B.H. and Schweinfurth, S.P., 1968. Geologic map of the Monongahela quadrangle, southwestern Pennsylvania: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-743.
142:
the channel sands, may have been controlled in part by deep, Early Cambrian basement faults that were reactivated during the Alleghany orogeny (Root and Hoskins, 1977; Root, 1995).
79:, now known as the Monongahela Group. The first reference to the Pittsburgh coal bed, named by H.D. Rodgers of the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, was on a 1751 map.
251:
The Pittsburgh seam was America's principal seam of coal production during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Pittsburgh-seam coal was ideally suited to making
549:
Dominic, D.F., 1991. Controls on alluvial stratigraphy in the Upper Pennsylvanian-Lower Permian Dunkard basin : American Association of Petroleum Geology, v. 75, p. 1182.
777:
502:
Eavenson, H.N., 1938, The Pittsburgh coal bed; its early history and development: American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers Transactions, v. 130, p. 1–55
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106:
anticline. Between these anticlines, the strata containing the Pittsburgh coal have been almost obliterated by erosion. The exception is a small remnant in
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208:
By 1796, coal mines extended along the face of Mount Washington for 300 fathoms (1800 feet), centered across the Monongahela from Wood Street.
193:
64:
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Cleaves, E.T., Edwards, J., Jr., Glaser, J.D., 1968, Geologic Map of Maryland: Maryland Geological Survey, Baltimore, Maryland, scale 1:250,000
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527:, Mine Drainage Pollution Abatement Project, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, no date, see Figs 1 and 8.
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The Monongahela is composed mainly of sandstone, limestone, dolomite, and coal, and consists of a series of up to ten
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began as a company town supporting this town, and this mine was merged with other later mines to become what is now
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also contributed significantly to the decline of production. Pittsburgh-seam output continued to fall after a
797:
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127:
511:
C. M. Young, Percentage of Extraction on of Bituminous Coal with Special Reference to Illinois Conditions,
432:
Map Showing Areal Extent of the Pittsburgh Coal Bed and Horizon and Mines Areas of the Pittsburgh Coal Bed
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205:
in 1768, and from this point on, coal fueled the explosive growth of industry in the Pittsburgh Region.
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156:. During each cyclothem, the land was flooded, allowing the accumulation of marine deposits such as
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sulfur, and is not likely to be extensively mined in the near future given current economic trends.
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331:. Initially, mining was seasonal, confined largely to winter time. Coal was hauled overland to
44:
is extensive and continuous, extending over 11,000 mi through 53 counties. It extends from
484:, Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 33, 3 (March 1949) pages 279–280
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Significant parts of the clay layer immediately below the Pittsburgh coal rest on an
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Mined out areas of the Pittsburgh Seam in Pennsylvania and West Virginia as of 1973.
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The Pittsburgh coal is one of many minable coal beds that were deposited across the
16:
573:
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/bmr/act54_2004_report/toc_01_pdf.htm
467:
Stratigraphy of the Bituminous Coal Field in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia,
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87:
239:
By 1814, there were at least 40 coal mines in the Pittsburgh region, worked from
596:
http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ngm-bin/ILView.pl?sid=2050_1.sid&vtype=b&sfact=1.5
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White, I.C., 1898, The Pittsburgh coal bed: American Geologist, v. 21, p. 49–60
153:
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Pittsburgh-seam coal, greatly reducing demand for Pittsburgh-seam coal. The
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and reported that there was a mine on Coal Hill, the original name given to
165:
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757:, Maryland Geological Survey, Johns Hopkins University, 1900, pages 167–168
32:
bed in the Appalachian Basin; hence, it is the most economically important
431:
300:
began. The first mine was the Neff mine, later known as the Eckhart mine
745:, Maryland Bureau of Industrial Statistics, The Sun, 1899, pages 207–208.
743:
Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics of Maryland for 1898
336:
202:
33:
63:
This coal seam is named for its outcrop high on the sheer north face of
135:
444:
Selected Geologic Factors Affecting Mining of the Pittsburgh Coalbed
619:
E. V. d'Invilliers, Part I, Report on the Pittsburgh Coal Region,
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157:
15:
706:"First Mining of Pittsburgh Coal" Pennsylvania Historical Marker
682:"First Mining of Pittsburgh Coal" Pennsylvania Historical Marker
732:
https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=MDPAm;1
471:, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1891. See Chapter III.
240:
29:
369:
536:
Hatcher, R.D., Jr., Thomas, W.A., Geiser, P.A., Snoke, A.W.,
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http://miningartifacts.homestead.com/Pennsylvania-Mines.html
560:
Topographic and Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 1906–1908
621:
Annual Report, Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 1885–1887
292:
The Big Vein was discovered in 1804, in an outcrop east of
296:, but it was not until 1824 that small-scale shipment to
90:
This is isolated from the rest of the Pittsburgh seam by
558:
George W. McNees, Andrew S. McCreath, Richard R. Hice,
434:, U. S. Geological Survey Open file Report 96-280, 1997
386:
720:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1625c/CHAPTER_C/CHAPTER_C.pdf
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http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1625c/CHAPTER_C/CHAPTER_C.pdf
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http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1625c/CHAPTER_C/CHAPTER_C.pdf
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Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey No. 65
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http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1625c/CHAPTER_C/CHAPTER_C.pdf
40:. The Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh coal bed of the
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Main Divisions of the Pennsylvanian Period and System
71:, and it is considered to form the base of the upper
708:
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=929
696:
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=927
684:
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=929
513:Engineering Experiment Station Bulletin No. 100
636:, American Historical Society, 1922, page 523.
446:, United States Bureau of Mines, RI 8093, 1975
694:"Coke Ovens " Pennsylvania Historical Marker
515:, University of Illinois, June 1917, page 90.
82:The section of the Pittsburgh seam under the
8:
634:History of Pittsburgh and Environs, Volume I
358:reached Cumberland, followed in 1850 by the
362:. These allowed large-scale exploitation.
458:, Pittsburgh Geological Society, no date.
418:Survey Professional Paper 1625–C, 106 p.
188:In 1760, Captain Thomas Hutchins visited
778:Coal mining regions in the United States
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94:(part of the Deer Park anticline), the
606:Collot, George Henry Victor, Tardieu,
823:Carboniferous geology of Pennsylvania
480:Raymond C. Moore and M. L. Thompson,
7:
793:Geologic formations of West Virginia
788:Geologic formations of Pennsylvania
718:U.S.G.S. Professional Paper 1625–C
243:in the face of the coal seam using
28:is the thickest and most extensive
562:, Harrisburg, 1908, pages 153–154.
14:
430:L. Ruppert, S. Tewalt, L. Bragg,
110:, in the Berlin Syncline between
373:
86:of Western Maryland is known as
54:Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
1:
608:Plan of the Town of Pittsburg
525:Geology and Mining Activities
108:Somerset County, Pennsylvania
58:Putnam County, West Virginia
833:Carboniferous United States
828:Carboniferous West Virginia
803:Coal mining in Pennsylvania
783:Geologic formations of Ohio
456:Geology of Point State Park
356:Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
343:during the spring floods.
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584:Pennsylvanian stratigraphy
773:Coal mining in Appalachia
632:George Thornton Fleming,
360:Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
319:39.6512389°N 78.9004417°W
227:40.4321500°N 80.0066889°W
46:Allegany County, Maryland
69:Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
808:Mining in West Virginia
345:Eckhart Mines, Maryland
324:39.6512389; -78.9004417
232:40.4321500; -80.0066889
339:for shipment down the
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813:History of Pittsburgh
335:and then loaded onto
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333:Cumberland, Maryland
84:Georges Creek Valley
50:Belmont County, Ohio
26:Pittsburgh coal seam
645:PENNSYLVANIA MINES
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294:Frostburg, Maryland
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102:anticline, and the
818:Carboniferous Ohio
385:. You can help by
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310:78°54′1.59″W
307:39°39′4.46″N
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288:The Big Vein
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277:World War II
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218:80°0′24.08″W
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176:Exploitation
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147:unconformity
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88:The Big Vein
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230: /
203:Six Nations
196:across the
100:Laurel Hill
767:Categories
538:Mosher, S.
406:References
298:Georgetown
154:cyclothems
337:flatboats
190:Fort Pitt
166:sandstone
162:limestone
122:Formation
52:and from
394:May 2011
34:coal bed
136:Permian
75:of the
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130:(late
241:adits
158:shale
253:coke
164:and
114:and
30:coal
24:The
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