Near Ohiopyle in Fayette County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Coal Mining
Photographed by Bradley Owen, May 21, 2022
1. Coal Mining Marker
Coal from southwest Pennsylvania, including the Youghiogheny River Valley, helped to fuel America's industrial revolution. It filled the railroad cars that once rumbled along tracks laid on this path. The husbands and sons of many local families rode deep into the earth each day to dig tons of coal from ancient deposits.
The coal beds located in the hills along the Youghiogheny date from the Carboniferous Period, a time 300 million years ago when tropical seas and wetlands covered southwest Pennsylvania.
As you hike or ride this trail, a portion of the "Great Allegheny Passage" trail system that connects Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Maryland, look for small coal seams compressed between layers of other rocks.
[Captions]:
Use this photo to find coal seams in the cliff in front of you. The coal is a dark slate-gray color.
Miners in Pennsylvania, like these men drilling coal in the 1930s, usually worked in cramped, underground shafts.
Low-slung rail cars, powered by electricity in the 20th century, maneuvered through a mine's network of tunnels to carry coal to the surface.
Coal seam
Miners at the entrance of the Connellsville Mine
Photos Courtesy of the Rivers of Steel Archives
Erected by
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Natural Resources • Parks & Recreational Areas • Railroads & Streetcars.
Location. 39° 54.4′ N, 79° 29.419′ W. Marker is near Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, in Fayette County. It can be reached from Sheridan Street east of Main Street (Pennsylvania Route 381), on the left when traveling east. Marker can be reached from the Ohiopyle Trailhead of the Great Allegheny Passage trail between mile posts 75 and 76. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7 Sheridan Street, Ohiopyle PA 15470, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands. It is also in the American Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Fallingwater (approx. 1.2 miles away); a different marker also named Fallingwater (approx. 1.4 miles away); A "Most Enchanting" Resort (approx. 2.4 miles away); Railroading (approx. 2½ miles away); Ohiopyle (approx. 2½ miles away); a different marker also named Ohiopyle (approx. 2½ miles away); a different marker also named Ohiopyle (approx. 2.6 miles away); Veterans Memorial (approx. 2.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ohiopyle.
Photographed by Bradley Owen, May 21, 2022
2. Coal Mining Marker
Photographed by Bradley Owen, May 21, 2022
3. Coal Mining Marker
View is looking to the southeast on the Great Allegheny Passage trail.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 24, 2022. It was originally submitted on May 21, 2022, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. This page has been viewed 901 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 21, 2022, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
