Named by H.D. Rodgers of the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, the first reference to the Pittsburgh coal bed was on a 1761 map. In the mid 1700s at Fort Pitt, coal was being mined on Coal Hill, or as it is known now, Mount Washington. The coal was extracted from drift mines in an outcrop about 200 feet above the Monongahela River.
In 1911, the Crucible Coal Company began to develop Greene County’s second largest mine. Located along the Monongahela River, less than two miles south of Rices Landing, the high quality coal from the Pittsburgh seam was to be shipped to Midland to be converted to coke for the company’s new steel mill.
“Commercial” coal mining in Greene County began in 1902 when the Dilworth Coal Company produced 36,400 tons of Pittsburgh coal from its mine at Rices Landing on the Monongahela River. This appears to be the first mine in Greene County that was supervised and regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Mines.
Early coal mining in Greene County began with settlers using drift mining to mine the outcrops of coal along the creeks and the Monongahela River, usually for personal use. Later small mining companies were mining coal.
If you have been on the Greene River Trail recently, you might have noticed something new. Twenty informational signs were placed along the trail highlighting coal mining, the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop, the Monongahela River, and wildlife.
Each week, we will release a new blog highlighting one of the signs you will find along the Greene River Trail. Follow along with us – or head out to the trail and see the signs for yourself!