Beehive Coke Oven

Beehive Coke Oven. . , The museum constructed this replica of a classic beehive coke oven in 1964 as a tribute to the Coal and Coke Heritage of the Overholt Family at West Overton Village. The bank of coke ovens operated by the Overholt Family from 1874 until the early twentieth century exist as ruins approximately 100 yards to the north of the Big Barn along the banks of Felgar's Run., At age 22, Henry Clay Frick entered the coke business, buying 123 acres of coal lands with his Overholt cousins and soon secured a $10,000 loan from Pittsburgh banker and friend Thomas Mellon Within two years, in 1873, Frick and Co. owned 400 acres of coal lands and 200 beehive ovens. By age 30, Frick was a self-made millionaire., The method of making coke at the turn of the 20th century involved five basic steps that included charging the coke ovens with coal, leveling the coal for even baking, quenching with water to halt the conversion process, drawing the coke from the ovens, and loading it into railroad cars for transport. The H.C Frick Coke Company became the leader in the development of mechanized operations, but many operators continued with the labor-intensive manual technique, despite innovations in techno logy., The Pittsburgh Coal Seam in southwestern Pennsylvania yielded a high-grade bituminous readily convertible into coke for use in the region's numerous blast furnaces. Owners of coal lands built banks of beehive coke ovens and the area soon became known as the Connellsville Coke Region, the nation's foremost coke-producing region during the late 19th and early 20th century. At its peak output in 1916, the Pittsburgh seam produced 40 million tons of coal. In the same year about 46,000 beehive ovens converted most of this coal into coke. Beehive ovens became the standard means of making coke during the period. The birds-eye view to the left provides a visualization of the district's size. , Abraham Overholt, maternal grandfather of Henry Clay Frick, had long been mining coal at the West Overton mine for his own use and for the homes of the numerous workers and family that resided in the village. In c.1870 Aaron Overholt, Abraham's grand nephew, formed A.S.R. Overholt and Company. , By c.1874, A. S. R. Overholt and Company operated the West Overton Mines and Coke Works with a bank of 64 beehive coke ovens at West Overton, on the West Overton Branch of the Broadford and Mount Pleasant Railroad, later a branch of the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad. Eventually, the branch became the Mount Pleasant Branch of the B and O Railroad. , The Overholt Coke Works consumed all of the coal mined at West Overton. A single charge for the ovens comprised 100 bushels of coal, which yielded 36 railroad cars or 22,500 bushels of coke weekly. The West Overton Mine and Coke Works employed fifty men and boys in 1875. By 1882 the West Overton Coke Works had increased the number of beehive coke ovens to 110 with 129 employees. The Overholt Coal Mines ceased operations in 1923., (Caption): Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Jack Conviser, 1993