Alaska Colliery
| Alaska Colliery | |
|---|---|
 Alaska Colliery, circa 1910. | |
 Interactive map of Alaska Colliery | |
| 40°47′01″N 76°26′17″W / 40.783474°N 76.43807°W | |
| Location | Alaska, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania |
| History | |
| Built | 1873–1874 |
| Demolished | mid-20th century |
| Site notes | |
| Owner | Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company (1874–1956); Reading Anthracite Company (1956–c.1960s) |
The Alaska Colliery was an anthracite mining facility located in Alaska, Pennsylvania, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northeast of Mount Carmel. Situated in the Western Middle Anthracite Field, the operation was a primary production site for the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company (P.&R. C.&I.). The company was organized in 1871 by Franklin B. Gowen to vertically integrate the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad's coal interests, eventually controlling over 40 percent of the region's anthracite reserves.[1] The facility transitioned from deep mining to surface strip mining in the mid-20th century following the mechanization of its haulage and loading systems.[2]
Development and technical details (1873–1930)
[edit]The colliery was established to extract coal from the Mammoth Vein, which reached thicknesses of approximately 25 feet (7.6 m) in the Alaska sector.[3] Operations utilized vertical shafts and inclined slopes to access deep reserves. The No. 3 slope was driven 160 feet (49 m) into the bottom split of the Mammoth Vein to reach the basin of the seam.[4]
In June 1897, the Baldwin Locomotive Works supplied a compound compressed-air locomotive to the Alaska shaft for underground haulage.[5] By 1915, the P.&R. C.&I. had implemented mechanical loading and electric haulage to increase production efficiency.[2][6]
At its operational peak in 1920, the colliery employed 777 workers.[7] On April 19, 1926, the wooden breaker was destroyed by a fire originating in the conveyor line, resulting in $500,000 in damages.[8]
Operational transition and closure (1930–1960s)
[edit]High operating costs, primarily the mechanical pumping required to drain deep workings, reduced the site's profitability during the 1930s until deep mining ended on April 30, 1944, with the company citing the "prohibitive cost of dewatering" the deep slopes.[9]
In 1956, the Reading Anthracite Company converted the site to surface strip operations. This transition resulted in the demolition of original colliery structures and the removal of the village of Alaska. In June 1958, the expansion of the Reliance Pit led to the displacement of the village's remaining families.[10] By the mid-1960s, the residential area had been entirely cleared to facilitate large-scale strip mining operations.[11]
Environmental legacy
[edit]The site remains a source of abandoned mine drainage within the Shamokin Creek watershed. Discharges from the former workings affect local water quality, and the area is a subject of ongoing remediation projects managed by the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR).[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company Records". Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History. Retrieved May 8, 2026.
- 1 2 Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania, Part I — Anthracite, 1915. Dept. of Mines of Pennsylvania. 1916.
- ↑ Stoek, Harry Harkness (1902). The Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Field. United States Geological Survey. p. 77.
- ↑ Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania. Dept. of Mines of Pennsylvania. 1905. p. 412.
- ↑ Pennsylvania Bureau of Mines (1898). Report of the Bureau of Mines of the Department of Internal Affairs of Pennsylvania. Wm. Stanley Ray, State Printer. p. 23.
- ↑ "Mechanical loading at Alaska Colliery". Hagley Museum and Library. Retrieved May 8, 2026.
- ↑ Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania, Part I — Anthracite, 1920. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 1921. p. 436.
- ↑ "Alaska Breaker is Wiped Out by Fire". Mount Carmel Daily Advertiser. April 20, 1926. p. 2. Retrieved May 8, 2026.
- ↑ Clark, George J. (April 13, 1944). "Alaska Colliery to Be Abandoned on April 30". The Mount Carmel Item. Mount Carmel, PA. p. 1. (Microfilm available at Pennsylvania State Archives, LCCN sn85054924)
- ↑ "Tiny Village Falls Prey To Coal Industry". The Mount Carmel Item. June 11, 1958. p. 1. (LCCN sn85054924)
- ↑ Arndt, H.H. (1971). "Geologic map of the Mount Carmel quadrangle, Columbia, Northumberland, and Schuylkill Counties, Pennsylvania". Map GQ-919. U.S. Geological Survey.
Map depicts Reliance Pit expansion over former residential grid of Alaska village.
- ↑ Cravotta, Charles A., III (2003). Effects of Abandoned Coal-Mine Drainage and Water Quality in the Shamokin, Pennsylvania, 1999–2001 (Water-Resources Investigations Report). U.S. Geological Survey.
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