Grassflat, Pennsylvania

Mining

An Overview of the Underground Coal-Mining Era at Grassflat and Environs

Written by Jeffrey L. Feldmeier

Coal built Clearfield County and the Cooper Township community of Grassflat. Grassflat's mining "glory days" took place during the underground mining era of the county's coal-mining history. The Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad Company, was the dominant coal operator at Grassflat. This article will focus on the CBC's underground mining operations at Grassflat and surrounding area and also touch on some of the smaller coal operators in the "Grassflat Field."

The Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company (this entity was reorganized as Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation in 1886) originated as the McIntyre Coal Company. This entity operated mines at McIntyre, Lycoming County, since 1860, but by the early 1880's, these mines were largely exhausted. At the same time, the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company was eagerly looking to "in source" its supply of coal for its locomotives, power plants, station heat and so on. The railroad had grown weary of being at the mercy of coal operators and competitive railroads, especially the Pennsylvania Railroad, for its coal supply. New York Central interests bought into the McIntyre Coal Company and reorganized it as the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company, charted December 27, 1882. The CBC acquired 22,500 acres of coal properties straddling the Clearfield/Centre County line, including what was to become Grassflat. This was called the "Peale Field," later referred to as the "Grassflat Field." In order to "follow the work," all or nearly all of the Swedish population at McIntyre moved to Peale. The New York Central also began work on a network of rail lines to connect these coal properties with its existing trackage, including what became the Beech Creek Railroad, an entity later leased by the Central, from Jersey Shore, Lycoming County, into Clearfield County.

The CBC's first mining operation in the Peale Field was the Tunnel Mines (Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4), located between Gorton Heights (later shortened to "Gorton") and Peale Tunnel in Rush and Snow Shoe Townships, Centre County. The second was Grassflat Nos. 9, 10, and 11 Mines, at the southeast corner of what became the Village of Grassflat. (CBC Mine Nos. 5-8 do not seem to have been used -- no record has been found for such mines.) These mines, all drifts, targeted the Lower Kittanning, or "B" seam. CBC engineers located the Tunnel Mines' drifts in November 1883 and coal shipments began the following July. The Grassflat Mines opened in 1884, however production numbers do not appear until 1885, perhaps because they were unable to ship their output as they awaited the completion of the large railroad bridge at Viaduct and the Grassflat Branch. As a result of the establishment of these mines, CBC built the town of Peale, on the Clearfield County side of Moshannon Creek, to house miners and their families. Peale was named in honor of S.R. Peale, who was heavily involved as an officer, director, promoter, and investor in the early days of the CBC and the predecessors of the Beech Creek Railroad. Contemporary accounts that Peale was a novel, planned community are misguided: Peale was poorly located as miners had to walk upwards of two miles to the Tunnel Mines and about the same to the Grassflat Mines (imagine having to walk this distance home in the winter in wet clothes, the result of crawling around in a wet mine all day). As a result, Peale's location contributed to its short lifespan.

The CBC's Tunnel Mines also appear to have suffered from poor location. After 1885 peaks in production, 203,933 tons, and employment, 291 men and boys, it was all downhill from there: 77,713 tons the following year with 194 employees and less than 20,000 tons with only 21 employees in its final year of CBC operation, 1891. The state mining inspector reported as early as 1888 that Tunnel Nos. 1 and 2 were the only drifts active and they "will soon be worked out." The CBC Board of Directors' May 28, 1890 meeting minutes reveal that the Tunnel Mines were "being exhausted rapidly," however many smaller operators (most notably Isaac Heaton & Son, who leased this property from CBC and worked the area of these mines from 1915-1930) mined these same workings plus the underlying Brookville, or "A" seam for years to come. Perhaps the coal in these mines did not meet the company's quantity and/or quality requirements. By October 1892, the CBC was pulling down 25 miners' houses near the now abandoned Tunnel Mines and re-erecting them near their new mines.

In the early days in the Peale Field, the CBC entered the coke business, erecting coke ovens at Gorton Heights. Once again, the CBC's locating decision is open to question. Yes, the ovens were located along the mainline of the Beech Creek Railroad, however, instead of obtaining coal from the nearby Tunnel Mines, coal originated at the Grassflat Mines and, to a lesser extent, some of the later mines at Grassflat. The initial 100 ovens were fired up in late 1887 and an additional 50 ovens were added in the 1898-1901 timeframe. Annual coke production at Gorton averaged about 40,000 tons with a peak of 93,096 tons in 1900. In 1898 the CBC's corporate charter was amended such that the company's commercial activities were to cease and the company's entire output was to supply the New York Central Railroad ("captive" coal), yet oddly enough, the coke ovens continued to operate through 1905.

The CBC Directors noted that with the decline and later closure of the Tunnel Mines, the capacity of the Grassflat Mines would need to be increased. Accordingly, a rope haulage system was installed at the latter, an improvement that received a glowing report from the mine inspector in his 1891 report (electric haulage was added about 1915). As a result, production was increased from 126,318 tons in 1890 to 174,620 tons in 1891. Output from the Grassflat Mines remained steady for many, many years, exceeding 100,000 tons almost every year it operated and achieving at least 200,000 annual tons several times.

To further make up for the output losses with the closure of the Tunnel Mines, Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation opened three new drifts at Grassflat in 1891, with production numbers first appearing the following year: Knox Run, Moravian and Pleasant Hill. The seam at these mines, like those at Grassflat Mines and Tunnel Mines, was the Lower Kittanning, or "B" seam and it averaged 3 feet, 3 inches in thickness. At this time the exodus of the population from Peale began. Not only did the miners want to live closer to the mines, they wanted to own their own homes (almost all of the Peale homes were company-owned). On August 7, 1913, the CBC Directors were told that the company was considering relocating 25 houses from Peal to its Barr Mine, near Dixonville, Indiana County. On October 22, the Board authorized the removal of 50 houses at Peale and their movement to other CBC properties. Whereas the nationalities of most of the miners at the Tunnel Mines and Grassflat Mines, at least in the early days, were Swedish, Scotch-Irish and a few others, the opening of the new drifts attracted a large Slovak population. As a result, Grassflat's overall population increased due to these employment opportunities.

Moravian Mine, the first of these mines to open, was located in Grassflat's northwest/north central section. For a time, this mine was a steady producer for CBC, with output exceeding 100,000 tons each year from 1898-1907 except one (1906--96,304). Then in 1908 the mine was abruptly closed, for reasons unknown to this author, despite the installation of an electric haulage system only five years earlier (electric haulage was also installed at Pleasant Hill Mine in 1903). Moravian Coal Company took over this operation in 1913 and operated it through 1937. As operated by MCC, it was never a large producer; its only years exceeding 100,000 tons output were in 1917 (123,203) and 1918 (135,175). This Snow Shoe-based company was likely named after Moravian Mine, the first mine it appears to have operated. O.J. Harm, who earlier was involved in operating the post-CBC Tunnel Mines, was the superintendent of this company for many years.

Another member of CBC's "Class of 1891" was the Knox Run Mine, located between Viaduct and Grassflat, along the Beech Creek Railroad's Grassflat Branch. Like Moravian, this mine too was a steady producer, with similar production numbers. This mine had an annual output exceeding 100,000 tons every year between 1897-1909, save one (1908--97,825). But by 1913, this mine was described as retreating and the following year CBC operations ceased here. Water problems (several headings were flooded in 1912) may have been a factor. in 1913, all coal was still being pick-mined (no machines) at this operation. On June 16, 1914, the CBC leased this mine to the Grassflat Coal Company, a subsidiary of the large coal operator Peale, Peacock & Kerr, Inc., who renamed this facility Ogle No. 4. for five years, with its peak production in its first full year, 1915 (69,367 tons). This mine was idle in 1918. Moravian Coal Company then took over this operation in 1920, restored the Knox Run name, and operated it into 1930 and again from 1937-39. Output during this entire period was small, its peak year being 1929 (10,106 tons). O.J. Harm, apparently now separate from MCC, had a very small operation at Knox Run in 1940 (2,215 tons). Beginning in the early 1940's, Andy Preslovich operated Knox Run, including a stripping operation.

Pleasant Hill was the third new mine in this field in 1891. This mine was located just south of Moravian and Knox Run, after a "ramp up" period of at least five years, it became a steady producer, often producing well over 100,000 tons annually. In 1913, CBC acquired 73 acres to add to this expanding mine and, as such, the mine was described as advancing. In mid-1913, like the adjacent and later connected Grassflat Mines, between 75-85 percent of the coal from this mine was machine-mined. This mine was worked through 1920.

With the CBC mines at Grassflat, Moravian, Knox Run, and Pleasant Hill all working, Grassflat reached its all-time annual production peak in 1903 at 804,282 tons.

(Above: This chart of the total output of the Grassflat area mines (those in and near Grassflat plus the Tunnel Mines) during the underground era reveals the rise over the first 19 years of mining followed by a steady decline over the next 42 years. One can get a good idea of what were good years and what were bad years at Grassflat. The production peak was in 1903 while the 1927-28 period was especially bleak.)

The Grassflat mines reached their peak employment of 1,055 men the following year.

(Above: Like the production chart, this shows a rapid increase in the number of those employed as Grassflat area mines were on the upswing and then the slow but steady decline. This chart does not take into account the number of days worked (or lack thereof)--this underemployment, for example working but two days per week, was a common problem in the coalfields. This chart also does not factor in "technological unemployment," the chief factor being the conversion from labor-intensive pick-mining to machine-mining.)

From this point on, Grassflat tonnages and number employed reflected a slow yet steady decline.

The CBC's westward expansion began in 1885 when it acquired 12,000 acres south of Clearfield. This became known as the "Gazzam Field" and the company town of Gazzam, near Ansonville, was erected. Following the completion of the Beech Creek Railroad to Gazzam that same year, full coal production began. But the Gazzam Field apparently did not meet expectations. Although the coal seam was of high quality, it was thin and the mines suffered from water problems, limiting output. As early as November 1896, a report to the CBC's Board of Directors revealed that the cost of production at Gazzam was $0.76/net ton while it was only $0.57/net ton in the Peale Field, the difference blamed on the thin vein and long mine haul at Gazzam. The Peale Field was subsidizing the company's losses at Gazzam: "it takes about all we can make from mining our Peale coal to pay our losses in mining at Gazzam...." As a result, CBC ceased mining operations in Gazzam in 1913 and the town itself, like Peale, died, though much more abruptly. Grassflat miners had survived this "threat" from a competing company town...for now.

But the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation continued to prospect for new coal fields to the west of Grassflat. In 1895, CBC acquired 2,000 acres opposite Spangler, Cambria County, where their West Branch Mines were established. Five years later they acquired 5,000 acres at Rossiter and established extensive underground mines there that worked into the 1940's. In 1903, CBC purchased 15.000 acres in Indiana County and established mines at Barr (near Dixonville) and Clymer in 1905. Finally, in 1919, CBC opened its mines at Commodore (the Directors noted that the opening of these mines "was made to replace the Grass Flat operations which will soon be worked out."). The year before, CBC mines in Indiana County produced over 71 percent of the company's total output.

(Above: As the CBC's annual production at Grassflat trended downward, that for the company's Indiana County mines (Rossiter, Barr, Clymer, and Commodore) went in the opposite direction.)

Not only was production there high, they also had the coal reserves. According to a July 21, 1913 report by Acting General Manager H.B. Douglas, the Grassflat Field had 3 million net tons of coal remaining (including pillars). Meanwhile, the Rossiter Field had 9 million net tons and the Dixonville Field a whopping 16 million tons! CBC even moved its headquarters from Clearfield to Indiana, Pennsylvania in 1920 (it had been located at Peale until 1900). CBC later established a centralized power plant, machine shop and supply house at Clymer which served the Indiana County mines but for which Grassflat could not benefit, or not easily. In 1911 the company acquired 90,000 acres in Clearfield, Cambria, Blair and Indiana Counties, a sizeable part of which was leased to the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Corporation, including mining operations at Winburne, Cooper Township. In 1943, CBC even acquired a coal-stripping operation in Ohio! The opening of these mines and investments therein, coupled with the nearing exhaustion of the "B" seam at Grassflat (as economically reached from its existing workings), made the Grassflat Field of lesser and lesser importance in the eyes of company management.

Also weakening the Grassflat Field's position was the quality and marketability of its coal. In his 1913 report, H.B. Douglas wrote:

"The grade of coal from Knox Run is somewhat better than from either Grass Flat or Pleasant Hill; but in general the coal is poor and requires constant care in preparation. It contains a somewhat high sulfur content, is inclined to clinker, and for this reason is not so suitable for R.R. [railroad locomotive] service."

As such, Grassflat coal was likely limited to use in New York Central Railroad power plants and the like, as opposed to locomotives.

CBC's opening of their Cooper No. 2 Mine in 1922 offered a brief ray of hope for the Grassflat Field. This mine was at the northeastern edge of town and adjacent to the Moravian Mine. However, in the larger sense, times were not good as this was the only CBC mine working in Grassflat for several years (1928-35) as the Cooper No. 1 Mine, as the Grassflat Mines were now called, was idle. Cooper No. 2, once developed, produced well over 100,000 tons most years, the most notable exception being in 1928 when only 17,385 tons were produced.

The 1927-28 period was one of the bleakest at Grassflat. It was a time of transition from union to non-union operations with resultant miners' strikes. With not much work for the miners, many left Grassflat, some for good, to seek work in places like Jamestown, New York and larger cities such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit. Steve Sicora, the author's grandfather, moved to Detroit in 1928 where he found employment in the automotive industry. He returned to Grassflat mines in 1931 before moving to Detroit permanently in the fall of 1939. A rather graphic example of the extent of the grim situation is reflected in the number of communicants at the Emanuel Lutheran Church, one of two Lutheran congregations in Grassflat at the time. At the start of 1927 there were 155 communicants; by year's end it was down to 114. By the end of 1928, the number of communicants had further tumbled to 71. Grassflat's "glory days" as a mining center were becoming but a distant memory.

Cooper No. 2, which included some of the workings of the adjacent Moravian Mine in its latter years, perhaps just to pull pillars, closed in 1938. This left Cooper No. 1 as the only CBC-operated mine in the field (Cooper No. 1 had reopened in 1936). But Cooper No. 1 was in serious decline, despite some solid production numbers in its final years (they even reopened and worked a part of the adjacent Pleasant Hill Mine in 1939-41--Cooper No. 1 and Pleasant Hill had long been connected--probably just to draw pillars). The CBC Board of Directors, at their July 22, 1936 meeting, discussed the opening of the "B" seam in the Clymer Field, which was "to replace the decrease in tonnage from Cooper and Rossiter mines, which are retreating." The Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation (technically the New York Central Railroad Company, Coal Mining Department since May 16, 1942, a corporate change made to permit exemption from some tax-related portions of the short-lived 1937 Bituminous Coal Act), ceased operations at Cooper No. 1 in 1945--quite a lengthy lifespan for a mine that opened in 1884.

With the 1945 closure of the Cooper No. 1 Mine, the underground era at Grassflat essentially came to an end. Some small coal operators, and surely some "house mines" continued but these were of a very minor scale. As a result, most former miners had to scramble to find jobs outside the coal industry. Some of the underground mining sites were later strip-mined to recover coal left behind by the underground operators and/or to mine other seams, particularly the "A" seam. Morgan Coal Company, beginning in 1945, and later Robert Bailey Coal Company, starting in 1950, stripped portions of the site of the Tunnel Mines. The latter also stripped portions of the former Pleasant Hill workings. But these strip-mining operations were more capital intensive and thus did not need the number of employees like the underground mines did. With essentially the end of underground mining and its employment opportunities, Grassflat suffered. A few years later, an elderly Slovak resident of Grassflat told Michael Kolivosky (who was interviewing residents for his thesis), "the top people aren't here anymore. When the company left, they left too. Nothing left here in town for them."

The end of the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation's active operations at Grassflat did produce a direct benefit for some Grassflat residents. CBC still owned various houses and lots in town and some of these were sold to the current occupants at this time. The sale to Amie and Alice Bamat in late 1945 is one example. The Bamats offered $300 for a 7,956 square foot section of Lot 62 in the West Clymer plan of lots in Grassflat along with the frame house and outbuildings thereon. This offer was accepted by the CBC whose president told the Board of directors "on account of the termination of mining at Grassflat, this property is not needed by the Corporation; that the price offered is adequate, and that it being of advantage to the Corporation the officers sold the above described property...." With CBC exiting the stage, some residents could finally own their own homes and property.

Although coal-mining operations promoted economic development and associated employment, it certainly has its costs. Of course the environmental impact of mining has been well documented nationally--the "sulfur cricks" and "boney piles" in the Grassflat area are testament to that. But it also had a more direct human impact. The annual state mining reports are littered with fatality and non-fatality accident data and descriptions. No less than 31 mine employees were killed on the job in the underground Grassflat area mines (including the Tunnel Mines, both under CBC and later operators) during the 1884-1945 period. There were likely other fatalities that failed to make the annuals for whatever reason. The earlier state reports provide rather detailed descriptions, for which the following regarding Lewis Lundquist's death on February 15, 1912 at Knox Run Mine is typical:

"Instantly killed by fall of roof slate at face. He was drawing pillars where the roof was badly fractured on the heading for a height of three feet, when a loose piece fell off the side, under which no prop had been set."

Today there is not a whole lot to see of the underground mining remains at Grassflat and surrounding area. The boney piles at Grassflat Mines and Cooper No. 2 are the most prominent. There are a few earth lumps that were likely part of the mining operations at Knox Run. Some of the remains of the Gorton coke ovens are extant. The Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation itself is no more, having merged into Penn Central Properties, Inc. in June 1984. There are no historical markers or memorials to commemorate those who labored here, risking life and limb on a daily basis. Hopefully this article provided you the reader with a better appreciation of what took place in this small Cooper Township community many years ago.

(Above: This Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation pay slip was for Steve Sicora and covered the Janaury 16-31, 1937 pay period. Steve, the author's grandfather, was an employee at the Cooper No. 2 Mine. He told me that he kept his pay slips as he wanted to prove to future doubters what little he made working in the mines. Per the United Mine Workers of America District 2 negotiated wages, he was paid $0.68/ton for his 22.90 tons of pick-mined coal (removing coal from the face) and $0.89/ton for 7.75 tons of hand-loaded coal. Apparently miners received pay for both labors. In the deductions area, the miner had to pay for a blacksmith for too sharpening and other services (the miner also paid for his own tools). He also had a $1.00 deduction per month for the company doctor, whether he required his services or not. The miner also had to contribute to the pay of the checkweighman, who was actually employed by the union. Note the stamped "Social Security Tax"--this tax had just become a part of the American working man's life and the form had not yet been formally updated to include this deduction category. Can any experts explain the rest of the information on this pay slip?"

(Note: The above map was slightly modified by Jamie Wagner to make it more easier to view on the web. However, only some coloring modifications were made and all of the original structure of the map remains unchanged, except for a decrease in size to make it viewable on the Web.)

Bibliography:

Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation, Meeting Minutes of the Board of Directors

Cooper, Eileen Mountjoy, series of articles entitled "Coal Dust: The Early Mining Industry of Indiana County," Indiana University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Special Collections and Archives. Articles of particular note include "Commodore: CBC Community A New Kind of Coal Town," "Unveiling of Marker Sunday Recalls Event That Killed 44 at Clymer No. 1," "Clymer Looking Back" (also appeared in Indiana Gazette, July 8, 1980), "The Coal Strike of 1919 in Indiana County and its Aftermath" (co-authored with Irwin Marcus and Beth O'Leary), and "That Magnificent Fight for Unionism."

Douglas, H. B., "Report of Conditions at Collieries operated by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation," July 21, 1913. This report is found in the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation Board of Directors meeting minutes of August 7, 1913.

Kolivosky, Michael Edward, "Intermarriage between two divergent ethnic groups as an index of assimilation," Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 1953.

Musser, A. J., "Coal and the New York Central Railroad Company," Explosives Engineer, March/April 1944.

Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania. This is the most common title of this annual report, which varied over the years. The 1884 volume's title is Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for which I consulted Part III, Industrial Statistics. A later title was Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Mines and Mineral Industries, Bituminous Coal Division, Annual Reports, 1931-1944. The 1945-47 editions carried the same title. I reviewed the 1883-1947 editions of these annual reports.