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EMEIGH, PA

Emeigh, or Emeigh Run, in Susquehanna Township, was opened in 1904-05 by Cherry Tree Coal Co. Cherry Tree's offices were located in St. Benedict rather than Cherry Tree. Coal mines at Emeigh were named Victor No. 1, 2, 3 ... Lightning struck the tipple in 1924, causing a tire that consumed the structure. However, a new tipple was up and running soon after. The coal company baseball team was the Emeigh Cardinals. Cherry Tree Coal Company's Victor mines closed in 1954.

The book "Remembering Emeigh" describes early Emeigh: "The company owned homes in Emeigh were very basic little houses with no frills or amenities. There was a cook stove in the kitchen, was was gotten from a pump at wells that were spaced about every six houses apart. There was a heating stove in one of the two front rooms. The lights were a socket and bulb that hung from the ceiling with an off-on pull string. The lock on the door was a little length of wood that turned to lock. On windy nights the door rattled so much that you usually awoke to an unlocked door. The constant shaking would simply allow the piece of wood to turn into a vertical position. There was no basement and very little closet space. The families were ususally large. The families I knew resolved the issue by having a boy's bedroom and a girl's bedroom with a couple of beds in each. This usually necessitated a can- o-pee under the bed, not a canopy over the bed like the rich folks had."

March 2021 image by author

The only structure remaining from the Emeigh mines is this former electrical substation. I didn't identify it by an old mine map, but by the description by the Historical American Engineering Record: "The building contains brick bearing-walls with brick segmented arches spanning the door and window openings. The roof is supported by timber rafters. An entry on the west side was enlarged many years ago perhaps to allow for vehicular access."

March 2021 image by author

A nice grade of coal company houses. This was a section known as Newtown.

March 2021 image by author

Coal company houses in various stages of alteration from their original appearance.

March 2021 image by author

Unlike the above houses these company "patch" houses are of wood-framed construction.

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