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January 30, 2024 - When it went into operation in March 1931, the St. Nicholas breaker outside Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania was one of the largest processors of anthracite coal in the world. State-of-the-art technology, it was capable of processing 12,500 tons of coal a day. A load of coal could run through the plant, which had a 1.5 mile long conveyor line, in 12 minutes.
St. Nicholas and its twin, Locust Summit, were part of a plan to modernize the Pennsylvania & Reading Coal & Iron Co. after a period of decline led to heavy financial debt.
Ironically, it was a former breaker boy from Girardville, Andrew J. Maloney, who launched the company into a new era after being named president in 1927.
Mining historian Eric T. Bella referred to the giant collieries as “engineering marvels” during a lecture on the 152-year history of the company, often referred to as the P&R C&I, on Thursday at Reading Anthracite headquarters in Pottsville.
About 50 people attended the lecture, the first ever event held in Schuylkill County as part of Anthracite Heritage Month.
Entering the storied building at 200 Mahantongo St., a citadel of mining history in the southern anthracite region, visitors walked past a large colorful mural depicting the company’s history.
The late Pottsville artist Dave Naydock’s powerful images of miners, breakers and immense dragline buckets foreshadowed what Bella, a mining engineer with Lehigh Engineering in Pottsville, put into words.
Storied History
Formed in 1833, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad began competing with the Schuylkill Navigation canal system for transporting coal in 1842. Within five years, the railroad shipped over a half-million tons of coal from Pottsville to Philadelphia, Bella said.
By 1871, when the P&R C&I was incorporated, the railroad was the dominant transporter of coal from mines in Schuylkill County.
“Thus began the advent of America’s great producer of Famous Reading Anthracite — America’s top quality hard coal — 152 years ago,” Bella said.
The company trademarked its coal, spraying it with red coloring.
“When it’s RED, it’s Reading,” reads an old advertising poster in the building’s hallway.
When he was named president in 1870, Franklin B. Gowen arranged for $25 million in funding to buy thousands of acres of coal lands. Worth about $170 million — $6.3 billion in today’s dollars — the company was the largest in the world a year later.
Bella did not shy away from mentioning Gowen’s role in the infamous trials of the Molly Maguires, an alleged secret organization of Irish Catholic miners accused of targeting mining supervisors. In 1877 and 1878, largely due to Gowen’s influence, 20 Irish Catholic miners were hanged in Schuylkill, Carbon and Columbia counties.
As the 20th century dawned, the company was beset by devastating strikes in 1902 and 1922, when U.S. President Warren G. Harding threatened to send in troops if the strike wasn’t settled. The most devastating strike, Bella found, was in 1925-26, where members of the United Mine Workers stayed out for 170 days.
The company rebounded after World War II, with diversification and new underground mining operations at Newkirk near Tamaqua, Porter Tunnel near Tower City and the expansion of Pine Knot Colliery near Heckschersville.
In 1955, it included the Union Underwear Co., makers of Fruit of the Loom briefs. By 1960, sales hit $39 million, and the coal company bought the brand’s licensing rights. Other subsidiaries included American Boot Co., Berks Building Block Corp., Imperial Shirt Corp. and Huston Chemical Corp.
In 1956, P&R Corp. reorganized as Reading Anthracite, which was purchased by John B. Rich and associates in 1961.
“It was a turning point in the life and image of Reading Anthracite,” Bella said. “The sale included coal lands, breakers, equipment and the right to use the Famous Reading Anthracite name for its RED trademarked coal.”
Today, Reading Anthracite is the largest producer of anthracite in the United States and is responsible for one-third of the nation’s production.
The Saga Continues
Reading Anthracite has surface mining operations at Wadesville; Pine Knot and St. Kieran’s, near Heckschersville; Ellengowan and Knickerbocker, near Mahanoy City; and West Spring, near Locust Gap. Its coal is processed at the New St. Nicholas colliery near Minersville and Girard colliery near Girardville.
Reading Anthracite has the industry’s largest coal reserve, estimated at more than 100 million tons, Bella said.
Responding to questions from the audience, he said only about 1% of the coal mined by the company is used in home heating.
One of the largest markets for anthracite is the steel industry, which uses it as an alternative to coke in blast furnaces.
The war in Ukraine, which has interrupted availability of coal from Russia, has increased demand for Pennsylvania anthracite, Bella said.
Mike Piersa, historian at the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, congratulated Bella on the thoroughness of his report.
“It’s impressive,” he said, “to see this kind of respect being given to the history and culture of anthracite in the region.”
Wally Fetterolf and son, Caleb, still in their work clothes, came straight from the Locust Summit stripping to hear Bella’s presentation.
Second and third generations miners of Frackville, the Fetterolfs spoke of the lure of mining that persists 234 years after Necho Allen discovered coal on a mountain near Pottsville.
“As they say,” said Wally, 62, who operates a large power shovel, “it’s in your blood.”
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