KLONDIKE COALFIELD

A coal field opened around 1900 to mine a rich, thick section of the Pittsburgh seam that, after proper preparation, produced a good quality of coke, hence the many beehive coke yards in the Klondike Field. Developement continued into the 1920s, but in that decade the coke plants began to close as more and more coal from the Klondike Field was shipped to by-product plants. Much coal was shipped by barge on the Monongahela River, which gave this field an advantage over rail-dependent fields such as Connellsville. At the beginning of the 21st Century most large mines have closed, CONSOL's Dillworth being the most recent.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in an article dated June 7, 1903 titled "Coke Fields Will Profit," stated, "The region in Fayette County which will soon be opened by the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie and friendly roads is rich beyond compute in coal fields. Thousands of coke ovens are scattered over the county in groups of a hundred or so, which takes the coal directly from the mines and manufacture it into coke. The revenue resulting from this business is so great that the area is scarcely known by any other name than the Klondike of the coke regions."


THE TOWNS:

ALICIA NO. 2

ALLISON

BOBTOWN

BRIAR HILL

BUFFINGTON

BURSON

CARDALE

CHESTNUT RIDGE

CLYDE MINES

CRUCIBLE

CRYSTAL

DAISYTOWN

EDENBORN

EMERALD MINE

FILBERT

FOOTEDALE

GATES

GRIFFIN

GRINDSTONE

HOOVER

ISABELLA

KAREN MINE (MAPLE GLEN)

KEISTERVILLE

LABELLE

LAMBERT

LECKRONE

MARIANNA

MATHER

MAXWELL

MOFFITT-STERLING

NEMACOLIN

ORIENT

OUTCROP

PITT GAS

POLAND MINES

RALPH

REPUBLIC

RICHEYVILLE

ROSE MINE

ROWES RUN

ROYAL

SEARIGHTS

SHAMROCK

SMOCK

THOMPSON NO. 1

THOMPSON NO. 2

TOWER HILL NO. 2

VESTA NO. 1

VESTA NO. 4

VESTA NO. 5

VESTA NO. 6

VESTA NO. 7

VESTABURG

WARWICK

WILLIAMSTOWN

MISC

ALSO:

ROBENA MINE


WESTERN PA

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