OLD FORGE Pa. COAL MINING

And LOCAL AREA HISTORY TIME LINE

1662 Connecticut land was chartered to Governor John Winthrop Jr., by the King of England. This included the Wyoming, Lackawanna valley region.

1762 Connecticut forms the Susquehanna Company and moves settlers to the Wyoming valley.

1766 Indian's are reported-to have a Silver Mine on the banks of the Lackawanna River in Old Forge, above Ascension Brook, near the rapids.

1768 Charles Stewart's survey indicates a large quantity of stone coal on the west side of the river

l770 Obadiah and Daniel Gore used Anthracite coal in their in smithry in Wilkes Barre.

1771 Barnbas Carey family were the first settlers in the Old Forge area.

1771 Timothy Keys & Solomon Hocksey were the first settlers in the Taylor area (Taylorville).

1773 Westmoreland, a county of the State of Connecticut is formed. This included the Susquehanna and Lackawanna Valleys. The Wyoming valley region is known as Westmoreland.

1774 First-grist mill in the Pittstown area was erected by township people on the falls, north side of the Lackawanna River. This was later sold to Capt. Solomon Strong in 1775.

1774 Records place the areas first saw mill and gristmill on the Lackawanna River below the rapids and above Pittston. This mill was later sold to Capt. Solomon Strong in 1775. The Gore and Draketown were early names for the Old Forge area.

1775 December 25, Connecticut created a separate county called Westmoreland county.

1775 Solomon Strong's grist and sawmills were sold to Garrit Brinkorkoof on July 6, 1775. They were later destroyed by flood in 1778.

1775 Saw mill-is built on Ascension Brook (St. Johns Creek) above Grideltown (Connells Patch).

1776 Revolutionary war begins with the British.

1778 Battle of Wyoming. Settlers from in and around Old Forge, and those from Wyoming, fled on foot through the Moosic Swamps toward the Delaware River to avoid capture by raiding Indians, after the battle of Wyoming.

1782 Congress decrees that the Wyoming Valley Region belongs to the Pennsylvania belongs to The Pennsylvania Commonwealth by the Degree of Trenton on December 30.

1782 William Miller built a gristmill on Millers (Mill) Creek. A sawmill replaced it on the same site, the sawmill was later replaced with a blacksmith.

1784 Start of the Second Yankee Pennamite War.

1784 Westmoreland County was ceded to Pennsylvania, but in May the county briefly seceded to become the State of Westmoreland.

1785 Murphy & Tyson operated a grist mill on Mill Creek.

1785 A grist mill on the south bank of the Lackawanna River was operated by Jacob Babb, and a grist mill on the north bank of the Lackawanna River was owned by S. Griffin. Both grist mills were in the area called Quaker Falls.

1786 Luzerne County is formed September 25, from Westmoreland County.

1789 Dr. Thomas Smith moved from Nanticoke to Old Forge to get above the high water mark.

1789 Dr. Smith and James Sutton built a forge on the rocky ledge above Ascension Brook and below the rapids or falls.

1791 Classes in Methodism were held at the house of Captain John Vaughan.

1795 Draketown (Old Forge) was of such importance that the Postmaster of Pittston moved his office near here.

1796 John Babb built the first bridge across the Lackawanna River (Turnpike Bridge).

1805 N. Hurlbut erected the first carding machine in the county.

1805 Draketown (Old Forge) is listed as the busiest place in the county.

1807 Start of the coal trade on the Susquehanna River by Abijah Smith. After purchasing an Ark made by John P. Arndt, on November 9, 1807 he loaded with coal from Wilkes Barre and rode it down the river to Columbia.

1808 Charles Drake built the house later occupied by Ebenezer Drake near the Lackawanna Railroad Depot.

1808 Charles Drake, in Old Forge, operated the only' stage coach inn between Wilkes Barre and Carbondale. He also built a general store and tannery.

1808 The foundry of G.M. & S.H. Miller was built by John Drake who later sold it to William Howard.

1813 The selection of Scranton, as the county-seat, hung in the balance at one time between Old Forge and Slocum Hollow, the lather with its larger blast furnaces and iron ore beds securing the prize.

1820 Peter Hallock sold his grist mill on the Lackawanna River to Samuel Conrad, and in 1825 the mill was later sold to John Conrad, it was abandoned in 1829.

1820 Edmund Babb operated an iron foundry in the Griddle Town section of Old Forge on Ascension (St. Johns) Brook. This is now the Connell's Patch area.

1828 Charles Drake mined coal on the family farm for their own use, in the Rendham section of Old Forge.

1833 Canal Feeder Map shows Conrad's Mill and Dam on the Lackawanna River (at Connells Patch), and a proposed dam above the Turnpike Bridge (Bridge St. & Lonesome Rd.).

1848 Ebenezer Drake is the first Postmaster in town.

1865 Chittenden Breaker is under construction, first coal breaker in Old Forge. 1868 Carbon Hill is sinking first shaft.

1869 Carbon Hill shipping processed coal to the Erie.

1870 Carbon Hill worked by Malvern & Scott, under lease. First listing for an Old Forge Colliery in the Bureau of Mines Inspectors Reports.

1870 Carbon Hill bought by Glenwood Coal Co. 1870 Glenwood Coal Co bought out by the Erie.

1870 Old Forge has 4 schools, geographically located with 1 teacher each.

1871 Old Forge Township formed from Lackawanna Township on May 26, 1871, about 9 sq.mi.

1872 Sibley Colliery is under construction.

1872 James Reese was killed February 15, at the Pine Mine while sinking the new shaft. His is the first death of a local miner recorded in the Pa. Mine Inspector Reports.

1872 Carbon Hill suspends coal shipments. 1873 Carbon Hill resumes it's coal shipments.

1873 N0 2 shaft of Carbon Hill colliery is abandoned. 1873 Pyne Breaker is being built by the DL&W.

1874 Sibley shaft and slope are working the Carbon Hill Vein.

1875 Anthracite coal from the Wyoming Valley/Luzerne County area represents half the Anthracite coal produced in the Commonwealth. First Sibley Colliery is under construction.

1876 Glenwood Coal Co. (Erie) abandoned the Carbon Hill breaker. Dr Smith and James Sutton build an iron forge on the Lackawanna River.

1878 August 2, Lackawanna County is formed. Old Forge No1 Colliery is under construction.

1883 New York Susquehanna & Western Rail Road (NYS& W) completed 7.5 miles of track to the Sibley Colliery.

1884 Carbon Hill Colliery is abandoned by Pennsylvania. Coal Co.

1886 First Sibley Colliery burned on February 6, and is being rebuilt on the same foundation. Production resumed on July 20 1886.

1886 Dunn Colliery later renamed the Jermyn No 1, Rendham section, is under construction.

1897 Susquehanna Connecting Railroad (SCRR) is incorporated and completed in 1897, it was abandoned in 1941

1888 William A. Breaker, Connells Patch, is under construction by the Connell Coal Co.

1888 July 18, Dunn Breaker in Rendham was destroyed by fire.

1889 Total production of coal in Lackawanna County was 16,607,177 long tons. Total for Pennsylvania was 40,665,152 long tons.

1890 Jermyn N02, Mudtown, a new colliery is being constructed.

1890 New William A. Breaker built in Old Forge, with 2 new shafts sunk.

1891 Austin Breaker built in Austin Heights.

1891 Penna. Coal Co lists the Old Forge #2 shaft getting a new 20 foot fan.

1892 April 26, Stewart Memorial Church dedicated.

1895 Original William A; Breaker in the Simpson's Patch section of Duryea burned.

1896 Lawrence Breaker is reported working a shaft and 2 drifts.

1896 November 27, new boilers were installed to power the Pennsylvania Coal Co Old Forge Breaker; it also feeds steam to the Pennsylvania's Coal Co. No 2 and No 13 shafts, and the Central Breaker in Avoca.

1899 Old Forge Borough is incorporated on May 2.

1906 June 23, the second-Sibley breaker burned, along with the engine, boiler, and supply buildings. The breaker is being rebuilt on the same foundation.

1906 Lawrence Breaker is abandoned; mined coal is taken underground by mine rail to William A.

1906 Jermyn Coal Co collieries are sold to the Erie.

1907 The Sibley breaker and buildings are completed and operations resumed.

1907 At the Old Forge Colliery, the 2 Mountain Drifts, Clark and Marcy are completed.

1907 Pennsylvania Coal Co Old Forge Colliery's new 725 KW electric power house is completed. It powers the Colliery, Old Forge No 1 and No 2 shafts, Mountain Drifts, Laws Shaft and No 13 shaft of the Central Colliery in Avoca.

1910 Old Forge School District was formed.

1914 Sibley Colliery was purchased from the Elliot McClure Co by the Pennsylvania Coal Co.

1914 Sanborn Insurance Maps show 22 hotels in Old Forge.

1915 Pennsylvania Coal Co at the Old Forge No 2 Shaft sunk the Clark Tunnel Slope to the Clark Vein.

1915 First working model (24") of a Menzies Cone Hydro Separator was installed in the Pennsylvania Coal Co Old Forge Breaker, to clean Buckwheat coal as a demonstration by its inventor, William Menzies.

1916 March 31. The third Sibley Colliery now owned by the Pennsylvania Coal Co was dismantled. All mined coal is moved underground by mine rail to the Jermyn No2 Colliery, Mudtown. (Mudtown was the patch name for the Main St area)

1917 Anthracite coal production peaks at over 100 million tons.

1918 William A. Breaker burned, coals mined at its shafts are being shipped by rail cars via the Coxton Yards to the Seneca Breaker in Duryea.

1921 The DL&W formed a new company, the Glen Alden Coal Co to run its coal mines.

1938 February 19, the Spring Brook Breaker, Moosic, was destroyed by fire.

1938 Jermyn mines are closed.

1956 A 7 foot Menzies Cone was installed in the Moffat Coal Co Breaker in Taylor.

Research provided Carl Orechovsky from the Historical Section of the Anthracite Archives page at the Old Forge Coal Mine web site: www.oldforgecoalmine.com

Carl Orechovsky, info@oldforgecoalmine.com