Scott Colliery
| Scott Colliery | |
|---|---|
 Interactive map of Scott Colliery | |
| 40°47′21″N 76°28′26″W / 40.789136°N 76.47382°W | |
| Location | Kulpmont, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania |
| History | |
| Built | 1894–1898 |
| Demolished | mid-20th century |
| Site notes | |
| Owner | Susquehanna Coal Company (1894–1917); Susquehanna Collieries Company (1917–1922); M.A. Hanna Company (1922–c.1961) |
The Scott Colliery was an anthracite coal mine located in Kulpmont, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. The colliery played a direct role in founding the first residential settlement in Kulpmont and left a lasting environmental mark on the Shamokin Creek watershed through acid mine drainage.[1][2] The Susquehanna Coal Company ran the colliery as a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pennsylvania Canal Company.[3] It operated from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century, when falling demand for anthracite coal forced its closure.[4]
History
[edit]Discovery and development
[edit]Coal was first found in the channel of Quaker Run in 1790, in the area that would later become Kulpmont.[1] Large-scale extraction did not begin until Isaac Tomlinson identified coal veins in the area.[3]
The Susquehanna Coal Company incorporated in April 1867 as the Pittston Railroad and Coal Company, taking its final name in February 1869.[3] The Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pennsylvania Canal Company held the company's stock, and the company controlled 5,823 acres of coal lands on both sides of the Susquehanna River.[3] The Scott Colliery was one of seven mines the company ran in Northumberland County, alongside the Cameron, Luke Fidler, Hickory Ridge, Hickory Swamp, Pennsylvania, and Richards Collieries.[3] Production figures, workforce counts, and accident records for all seven were published yearly in the Pennsylvania Annual Report of Mines, held at Penn State University Libraries in a continuous series from 1870 to 1979.[5]
Construction
[edit]The first major phase of construction involved the Scott Branch of the Shamokin Valley and Pottsville Railroad, a 2.95-mile spur built in 1894 to reach the colliery.[6] Workers sank the main hoisting shaft in 1898 using an African American labor force, whose families settled at the end of Poplar Street in company-built homes, forming the first residential community in what would become Kulpmont.[1] The company then put up the Scott Breaker to crush and sort anthracite into commercial sizes.[1] A 1918 engineering survey for the Susquehanna Collieries Company included fold-out plans for the Scott Colliery as part of its Shamokin Division records.[7]
Workforce and community
[edit]In 1905, Kulpmont saw a building boom as immigrant families came to work in the mines.[1] Early settlers were mainly Polish and Italian, followed by Hungarian, Irish, Russian, and Jewish families.[1] Kulpmont incorporated as a borough on August 24, 1915.[8] The Polish Club, Italian Club, Russian Club, and Hungarian Club were among the ethnic organizations that took root in the borough during this period.[1]
Peak operation and corporate changes
[edit]In 1913, the Pennsylvania Railroad voluntarily sold its holdings in anthracite coal companies, including the Susquehanna Coal Company, while other anthracite railroads faced antitrust prosecution.[9] In 1917, the Susquehanna Coal Company handed its mining properties to the newly formed Susquehanna Collieries Company and withdrew from mining.[3] The new company electrified its collieries through the firm H.C. Felver, finishing the work in 1922.[9] That same year, the M.A. Hanna Company, an Ohio holding company with interests in bituminous coal and iron, bought out the Susquehanna Collieries Company.[9]
Decline and closure
[edit]Pennsylvania anthracite output peaked at roughly 100 million tons in 1917 and fell steadily after that.[4] Oil and natural gas cut deeply into the home heating market that anthracite had long supplied.[4] The Susquehanna Collieries Company's Pennsylvania mines wound down through the mid-20th century as demand dried up.[4]
Notable events
[edit]The Susquehanna Coal Company's Northumberland County mines were caught up in the anthracite coal strike of 1902. In September 1902, striking workers attacked a train carrying non-union men to the Richards and Pennsylvania Collieries. The Northumberland County sheriff called on Governor William A. Stone for help, and Stone sent the Fourth Regiment to the area.[3] The Luke Fidler Colliery, run by the same company, was hit by two gas explosions: one in October 1894 killed five workers, and another in November 1902 killed four more.[3]
Environmental legacy
[edit]The worked-out chambers beneath Scott Ridge continue to leak acid mine drainage through the Scott Ridge Mine Tunnel. The United States Geological Survey tracks this discharge at station USGS-404739076291901, at 40°47′39″N, 76°29′19″W.[10] That tunnel, along with three other mine discharges in the area, sends approximately 18.3 million gallons of polluted water per day into Shamokin Creek — roughly 40 percent of all impaired flow reaching the creek.[2] The former colliery grounds were later redeveloped as the Kulpmont Veterans Memorial Sports Complex.[11]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Other Information – Kulpmont Borough". Borough of Kulpmont. The News Item. June 27, 1975. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- 1 2 "Completed Projects". Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Manuscript Group 463: Susquehanna Coal Company Records". Pennsylvania State Archives. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Mackaman, Thomas (2016). "Coal". The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- ↑ "Pennsylvania Annual Report of Mines by Year: 1870–1979". Penn State University Libraries. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- ↑ Interstate Commerce Commission (1918). Valuation Reports, Volume 22: Shamokin Valley and Pottsville Railroad. Washington, D.C.: United States Interstate Commerce Commission. Records held at the National Archives, Record Group 134, Washington, D.C.
- ↑ Walker, R.S.; Cayia, A.J.; Jackson, C.F. (1918). Maps and Sections to Accompany Report on Susquehanna Collieries Company and the Lytle Coal Company as of May 1, 1918. Shamokin, Pennsylvania: Susquehanna Collieries Company. Copy held at the Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware.
- ↑ "Borough Incorporations in Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania Department of State. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Records, 1918–1922: Susquehanna Collieries Company". ArchiveGrid. OCLC Research. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- ↑ "Scott Ridge Mine Tunnel at Kulpmont, PA". National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- ↑ "Students Explore Coal Heritage, Watershed Restoration Possibilities in Northumberland County". PA Environment Digest. November 20, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2026.