A Trot Around Trotter

Today I had some business to take care of in Connellsville, and before doing so, I decided to stop over in Trotter and take a quick look to see if anything remained of the coke works. I was 90% sure that nothing remained and now I'm 100% certain. Mr. Standard met up with me and we combed the entire area for about an hour. We found some coke, bricks, a little bit of cut stone, some bare banks, and that's about it. The old railroad grades are still distinguishable so the site is still relatively easy to figure out with the help of old maps and aerials. 

 

First, a little bit of the history of Trotter. Trotter Shaft, coke works and the company town date back to 1880 and were constructed by the Connellsville Coal and Coke Company. Initially there were 200 coke ovens. By 1884, Frick had gained control of the plant. H.C. Frick Coke Company would operate this plant, with a total of 464 ovens, until 1935. 

 

 

An article from the 1880 Pennsylvania Bituminous Mining Report describing the opening of the Trotter Mine and Coke Works.

An 1939 aerial of Trotter, a few years after it was abandoned. The large slate dump to the right of the ovens is now the site of the Connellsville Area School District's Dunbar Stadium. I am assuming the ovens were reclaimed whenever this facility was put in. 

A few photos of Trotter Coke Works. These have been on my computer for a few years and I'm not sure of where they originated from. 

And here's a few from today of the little bit of remnants we were able to identify.

The site of the former Trotter Coke Works.

Some random cut stone, most likely from the old coke ovens.

A nice piece of Trotter coke.

A little bit of the bank from the most western coke oven block.

Railroad grade that would have run between two of the coke oven blocks.

An old brick chimney.

A pile of old coke oven brick and stone.

A large concrete footer with some steel attached, possibly related to the shaft head frame.

The same concrete footer. It is resting on top of a capped well or shaft. 

A nice large stone.

We couldn't figure out of this is an old collapsed building, or if it was hauled in on a dump truck and dumped here. 

A couple photos of the Trotter patch houses.