Summary of the History of Pennsylvania Coal and Coal Mining
The website The Pennsylvania General Assembly gives a summary of the coal industry in the state of Pennsylvania:
"Anthracite coal was the main fuel used to smelt iron until the 1880s, when the manufacture of coke from bituminous coal was developed to a degree that it replaced anthracite. Coke was used both to smelt iron and to make steel from iron. But production of anthracite continued to increase because it was used for heating and other purposes. The bituminous and coke industries were responsible for the late 19th century industrial growth of western Pennsylvania; the iron ore deposits there would not alone have merited such growth. World War I caused two years (1917-1918) of the largest production of both types of coal the state has ever seen. In the 1920s a new coke-making process produced valuable by-products, making the old beehive coke ovens obsolete. The new coke plants were built, in many cases, outside of Pennsylvania. A declining market for coal in the 1920s caused business and labor problems. These increased in the 1930s during the nation's economic depression. Production demands in World War II revived the coal industry for those few years. In its heyday the industry was notorious for its dangers. Between 1902 and 1920 mine accident deaths occurred on an average of 525 per year."
Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) and their children came to Pennsylvania in 1886 and left by mid 1891.
Source: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/wu01/vc/visitor_info/pa_history/pa_history.htm
Pennsylvania History :
Pennsylvania On The Eve Of Colonization
The Quaker Province: 1681-1776
Independence To The Civil War: 1776-1861
The Era Of Industrial Ascendancy: 1861-1945
Maturity: 1945-1997
"Anthracite coal was the main fuel used to smelt iron until the 1880s, when the manufacture of coke from bituminous coal was developed to a degree that it replaced anthracite. Coke was used both to smelt iron and to make steel from iron. But production of anthracite continued to increase because it was used for heating and other purposes. The bituminous and coke industries were responsible for the late 19th century industrial growth of western Pennsylvania; the iron ore deposits there would not alone have merited such growth. World War I caused two years (1917-1918) of the largest production of both types of coal the state has ever seen. In the 1920s a new coke-making process produced valuable by-products, making the old beehive coke ovens obsolete. The new coke plants were built, in many cases, outside of Pennsylvania. A declining market for coal in the 1920s caused business and labor problems. These increased in the 1930s during the nation's economic depression. Production demands in World War II revived the coal industry for those few years. In its heyday the industry was notorious for its dangers. Between 1902 and 1920 mine accident deaths occurred on an average of 525 per year."
Hugh(1) and Margaret(2) and their children came to Pennsylvania in 1886 and left by mid 1891.
Source: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/wu01/vc/visitor_info/pa_history/pa_history.htm
Pennsylvania History :
Pennsylvania On The Eve Of Colonization
The Quaker Province: 1681-1776
Independence To The Civil War: 1776-1861
The Era Of Industrial Ascendancy: 1861-1945
Maturity: 1945-1997
Comments
Post a Comment