Footedale Coke Works

The remaining ovens at the Footedale Coke Works are in severely deteriorated condition. Although it appears that most of the 400 ovens remain, what's left is just remnants. Mostly just the back of the ovens in one bank and one block remain. The land is currently posted as being by owned by the Menallen Coal and Coke Company, so whether the site is scheduled to be strip mined or not, I don't know. Right now there isn't anything going on out there.

The Footedale Coke Works date back to 1900 and were built by the Eureka Fuel Company. The Eureka Fuel Company was a subsidiary of the Illinois Steel Company, who had long controlled the coal lands and coke works of the Southwest Coal and Coke Company at Morewood and Tarrs. Eureka was formed in 1898 to develop more coal lands. That same year Illinois Steel and its properties were incorporated as the Federal Steel Company. By summer 1899 Federal had purchased nearly 6,000 acres of coal lands in Nicholson, German, and Menallen Townships in Fayette County. Footedale takes its name from the head of the Eureka Fuel Company, Charles H. Foote. By 1903 the H.C. Frick Coke Company had gained control of the Footedale mine and coke works. The ovens at Footedale were in operation until at least 1927, after which the coal was shipped through the U.S. Steel conveyor system to Colonial Dock on the Monongahela River. The raw coal was then shipped to U.S. Steel's byproduct ovens at Clairton. This system lasted until June 1957 when U.S. Steel closed the mines and dock. There is evidence that Footedale closed earlier than 1957.

 

These are the bank ovens.

Another view of the single bank ovens.

The block.

Very bad condition.

Just the backs remain.

Other than the ovens, the remains of this mine building and a small ash dump are all that remain.

Ash dump.

Another interesting thing that was not related to the mine is this old spring house.

The spring is still flowing.

An old pump and tank in the spring house.

 

Pine Furnace-Pine Furnace, PA

Today I was at a customers house near Templeton and we began talking about the history of the area. His father wrote a sizable book about the history of Templeton, Mosgrove, Kittanning and the surrounding locales. In the book was a section on the old iron furnaces in the area. After talking for awhile he gave me directions to the Pine Furnace and I decided to take a quick drive by there. 

 

The Pine Furnace dates back to 1845-46 and was built by James E. Brown and James Mosgrove of Kittanning to make hot blast charcoal iron. It functioned as a charcoal fueled furnace until 1865 when it was remodeled and switched over to coke. The original stack was 32 feet high with a ten foot bosh and was steam powered. The remodeled stack was 40 feet high with a 9'10" bosh and a four foot square hearth. The furnace had a capacity of 50-60 tons a week. In 1879 pig iron had reached $16 a ton and made operating the furnace unprofitable. It operated almost continuously throughout its lifetime and was the cheapest furnace to run in Armstrong County. 

 

By 1880 a sizable community had grown up around the furnace. The town included stores, a schoolhouse and church as well as many residential homes. All that remains today is a stack of stone from the furnace.

(Sources http://www.r2parks.net/  and Armstrong County, PA. Her People Past and Present)

This is the view from the road.

Climbing up the hill. Perfect corners on this stack.

Backside of the furnace.

Side view.

Back corner.

Other corner.

Closeup of stonework.

Possible race in front of the stack.

Front from halfway up the hill.

Collier, PA- Collier Coke Works

There are a lot of ovens left at the Collier Coke Works but none of them are in good condition. A total of four ovens still retain their fronts, the rest are in incredibly poor shape. Regardless, it is still an interesting site. One thing that really stands out here more than any other site is the amount of beaver activity. Yes, you read that right. Many small trees were chewed down in telltale fashion. Although we didn't see any beavers, we certainly felt their presence.

Back to the coke works. The Collier Mine and Coke Works were started by the H.C. Frick Coke Company in 1907 and was one of the last two plants that company would build in the Connellsville Coke Region. The coke works initially began with 300 ovens and ended with 400. In 1941 Frick rehabilitated all 400 ovens and provided employment for 200 men at the plant. The Collier Mine and Coke Works operated into the 1950's. 

 

None of the mine buildings survive. Other than the ovens and town, a very large slate dump is all that's left.

 

The slate dump.

These ovens are as good as it gets. The different colored bricks on these two ovens is interesting.

Some nice intact floor tile.

The rest of the ovens all looked like this.

A final shot on the way out.

 

Wynn, PA- Wynn Coke Works

The Wynn Coke Works contains one bank of beehive coke ovens in mostly very good condition. Dating back to around 1887, but definitely rehabilitated at various points afterward, the Wynn Coke Works were constructed by W.W. Laughead & Company. In 1889 the Wynn Plant was purchased by John William Moore, a man who was involved in many other interests in the Connellsville Coke Region. Moore interests in the coke industry date back to 1873 when he was in a partnership that built the Summit Coke Works near Everson. Six years later Moore purchased the Redstone Coke Works south of Uniontown and after that, in 1879, he built the famed Mammoth Coke Works near Mount Pleasant. 

 

On August 23, 1889, Moore sold all of his coke interests to the H.C. Frick Coke Company. John William Moore died on February 19, 1893. 

 

In 1901 the Wynn Coke Works contained 130 ovens. In 1921 there were 300. Frick ran the mine and coke works until 1926. The mine was shut down but the coke works were used as late as the 1950's by the Ruane Coal and Coke Company. 

 

Heading back to the ovens. I don't like the looks of this bulldozer sitting there.

Incredible condition!!

These were some sort of byproduct ovens. I'm not sure if the heat or gasses were recycled or both.

Old quenching hose.

Symmetry.

A little grown in further down the bank but absolutely nothing to complain about.

Big piece of coke.

Of course we have trees growing out of a couple. Why do trees like growing out of coke ovens? The world may never know.

This one's just perfect.

The end of the bank is just built right into the hillside.

Looking down the hillside.

This large brick silo was behind the bank.