BRIER HILL, PA

Most coal and coke patches in the Klondike coalfields were captive mines of U.S. Steel, but Brier Hill's coke was for use in the blast furnaces of Brier Hill Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio (later Youngstown Sheet and Tube). Brier Hill was a coal and coke complex and patch town along National Road between Uniontown and Brownsville. Today very little remains of the patch town, and the mine and coke ovens have been under reclamation for several years now. Luke Rice has taken a few photos in the Brier Hill area, and in 2008 he wrote, "A week or two ago I took some pictures for work at Brier Hill. A map circa 1925 ... lists this as the Deep Vein Connellsville Coke Co., Brier Hill works. It was served by the Redstone Central Railroad (Monongahela Railway subsidiary I think) and was abandoned and removed in 1936."

Ruins of the Brier Hill colliery and coke ovens. (Courtesy of Luke Rice)
This stone structure was probably related to the Brier Hill coke yard. (Courtesy of Luke Rice)
Luke said this is "the only remaining coke ovens I noticed." (Courtesy of Luke Rice)
Recover equipment used to reclaim the Brier Hill sit.e (Courtesy of Luke Rice)
Luke describes this photo as "an old tavern along route 40, obviously predates the mine/coke works as it was built in 1796." (Courtsy of LUke Rice)
Another photograph of the same tavern. (Photo courtesy of Luke Rice)