Mining in Greene

By Danielle Nyland

The first car of coal from the slope portal of Nemacolin Mine. (Photo courtesy “Nemacolin” by Robert Korchek.

During the end of the last century and well into this one, Greene County was known as Pennsylvania’s coal powerhouse, eventually producing more coal than any other county in PA. But it took Greene County the better part of the last century to grow into being the top Pennsylvania coal producer.

Before 1886, there were no large-scale commercial mines in Greene County – but that doesn’t mean coal mining was already going on. Drift mines supplied the coal to businesses and homes, pulled from the Pittsburgh and Waynesburg coal seams that were along the mighty Monongahela and its tributaries. Many of these coalbanks were along Ten Mile Creek, going from Waynesburg down into Jefferson.

In these small drift, or hill, mines coal was mined by hand and taken by wagons to be delivered. The coal that was mined was used to heat homes and businesses, as well as provide power for small manufacturing plants in the area.

Large scale coal mining began in 1891 as coal lands along the Monongahela were purchased. Some of the earliest purchases reported were tracts of land in Rices Landing and Clarksville. The biggest of these early coal deals was in 1893 when large parcels of coal land in the Rices Landing, Jefferson, Clarksville area was sold to Knob Coal Company of Brownsville for approximately $80,000. Also in 1893, Ten Mile Coal Copany decided that they would place four coal mines between Millsboro and Rices Landing.

The original tipple and shaft frame at Mather Mine, circa 1920s.

When the transfer of thousands of coal-rich acres in Greene from private owners to outside investors – many from Fayette County – during the late 19th and early 20th century was completed, Greene County’s entrance into commercial mining wasn’t far behind. The first commercial mine in Greene County was the Dilworth Coal Company, chartered in 1901. Dilworth was the first mine supervised and regulated by the state Department of Mines.

During the years between 1906 and 1912, two more commercial mines would be opened in Greene County: Crucible (1911) and Poland Mine (1912). In 1916, Pitt Gas, Alicia #2, West Point Marion, and Walnut Hill mines were opened. The year 1917 brought the reopening of Dilworth Mine and two important new towns to Greene County – Mather and Nemacolin.

In 1918, Mabel Mine, Mapel Sterling, Rose Mine, Jeanette Mine, Rumble Mine, Gabler Mine #1, and Rosemary mines were opened and by 1919, 1,5050,066 tons of coal were mined in Greene County, with the mines employing 1748 miners. By 1921, there were a total of 18 mines open, with the number one producer of coal being the Mather Mine. In 1922, Greene County was responsible for producing 2% of PA’s coal and by 1927, was the 8th largest producer in the state, responsible for 5% and Nemacolin was the top producing mine. During these years, the Dora Mine and Shannopin Mine were also opened.

The Great Depression hit the coal industry of Greene County, and there was a decline in employment, production and total amount of mines, dropping to 11 open mines by 1932. During the early 1930s, union efforts were attempted and remained unsuccessful at first, but by the mid-1930s the UMWA had succeeded with their unionization efforts. By 1938, the number of operationl mines had declined to seven, with Nemacolin producing the most coal.

The Dilworth Mine tipple in Rices Landing.

World War II brought about an increased need for steel and by 1945, there were twenty-nine mining operations in Greene. The county was the sixth largest producer in the state at 8% of total coal produced; Nemacolin was its top mine.

In 1944, the Robena Mine was opened by the H.C. Frick Coke Company in Monongahela Township. Robena Mine was the first fully mechanized mine in the area and would eventually become the county’s top producer until its closure in 1983, after a breif closure in 192 to 1963 due to an exlposion at the Hartley shaft that killed 37 miners.

The major coal mines in Greene County like Robena and Nemacolin, would help it reach 2nd place in the state by 1960, producing 15% or Pennsylvania’s coal. By 1986, Greene Couty was first in the state, producing 18% of total coal; in 1994, it was still top, producing almost half of the state’s total coal. As of 2016, Greene County was still producing more coal than any other county with 75% of the state’s recorded coal production.

Greene County’s coal mining history started slow but grew into one of its most important industries, putting it first in the state in production for more than three decades.