Rowes Run, PA and Colonial No. 3 Mine

Apr. 2009 image by author Homes built for the employees of Pittsburgh Coal Company's Colonial No. 3 mine at Rowes Run, PA.
Apr. 2009 image by author This company store of masonry construction is still in existence at Rowes Run. It was probably the United Supply Company store, which was the retail arm of H.C. Frick Coal and Coke Co., which acquired the mine and patch in 1911. There is also an older company store at the bottom of the hill that dates back to the Pittsburgh Coal Company days.
Apr. 2009 image by author Detail of the sign on the company store.
Apr. 2009 image by author Ballfield in the center of the patch, with the company houses surrounding it.
Apr. 2009 image by author A few garages on the edge of the patch for the residents.
Apr. 2009 image by author On another edge of the patch the Rowes Run school is dilapidated and forlorn.
Apr. 2009 image by author Homes on the edge of the slate dump.
Apr. 2009 image by author Pink red dog in the Colonial No. 3 slate dump.
Apr. 2009 image by author This brick stable is a reminder of the era when animals were used in the mining of coal at the Colonial No. 3 mine.
Image courtesy of John Lowery John emailed in this picture of the Colonial No. 3 tipple. He writes, "The photo enclosed was given to me by Bobby Cramer of Rowes Run. It is an original taken by his family in 1937, and he said I may use it. I would like you to enter it into the Rowes Run webpage. I was born in 1946 on Second Street in Rowes Run, shortly after my parents moved to house #466 on Fourth Street. I left in 1964 for the Air Force, and now I live in NJ ... Everybody left when the mines closed, and took all photos and mine related things with them. So it is tough finding things today. What I truly am looking for is a picture of the coke ovens that was at the Rowes Run mine. They quit coking there and covered the ovens up with the slate dumps. I ve been over every inch of the mine area as a kid, and have not found any signs of coke ovens. It was really something to watch the coal cars being turned over and dumped at the underground belt to the river. It was great being a coal patch kid."