Coal Mining

Coal Mining. . , 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