WINDBER FIELD

Large scale coal mining in the Windber Field began in the 1890s. The dominant company was the Berwind White Coal Company. Coal seams mined included the Upper and Lower Freeport, Lower Kittanning, and Brookville. These low-volatile "smokeless" coals fueled the great steamships crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the early 20th Century. The original mines of the Windber Field were closed in the 1950s and 1960s, but some coal mining still occurs in the area. According to the PA D.E.P.'s 2001 report, there were 9 deep mines and 46 strip mines in Somerset County in 2001. (Some of these would be in the Meyersdale Field in southern Somerset County.) More recently (July 2002), the rescue of 9 trapped coal miners at the flooded Quecreek Mine north of Somerset captured national attention. They had breached the old flooded Saxman mine (due to incomplete mine mapping).

THE TOWNS:

QUECREEK

ACOSTA

GRAY

JENNERS

BOSWELL

JEROME

HOLLSOPPLE

BLOUGH

MAPLE RIDGE

BAKER-WHITELEY

CAIRNBROOK

EUREKA NO. 35 & 36

EUREKA NO. 40

EUREKA NO. 42

ST. MICHAEL

WILMORE

EHRENFELD

MISC

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA COALFIELDS

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