1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc.THE CONNELLSVILLE COKE KEGION.Geographical Position.The territory kuowu as the Conuellsville Coke Region lies in thecounties of Westmoreland and Fayette in the southwestern part ofrennsylvania. Its boundaries reach from a few miles south of thetown of Latrobe, in ^^'estmorelaud county, to within a S'hort distancenorth of the famous Mason and Dixon line, in Fayette county, andembrace a deposit of coal geologically known as the ''Blairsvilletrough," which is forty-two miles long and has an average width ofthree and one-quarter miles, and contains by the maps 13G^ squaremiles or 87,360 acres. An accurate computation of the area, however,has been ascertained from the individual surveys of each tractin the region, which gives the acreage as 87,770. Of this, 27,776acres have been mined, consequently there is left for future operationsGO,OOU acres of solid coal.GeologicalFeatures.In the Annual Eeport of 1896, Geological Survey of Pennsylvania,Mr, E. V. d'Invilliers says, "Moreover to Westmoreland county belongsthe distinction of furnishing the typical coking gas coals ofthe United States, and with Fayette county, itannually distributesto far distant points about 75 per cent, of all the coke made in thiscountry." Again, in the same report, he says of Fayette county,"Whether from its almost unrivalled coking coal fields, containedwiihin the Blairville basin, from Jacobs creek, itsnorthern boundary,to Uniontown and Fairchance, without a break, or from its vastand practically untouched gas and steam coal territory held withinthe Lisbon trough, between the Youghiogheny and Monongahelarivers, this county, or at least its western half, is destined to becomea vast supply station from which thousands of tons of highgrade fuel wealth are to be distributed far and wide, to meet the wantsof distant communities."This Connellsville seam of coal yields from 8 to 10 feet of workablecoal. The coal is clean, almost free from slate and sulphur, remarkablysoft, easily mined and uniform in quality and thickness.The purity of this coal and its chemical and physical characteristicsuTake it peculiarly adapted for coking and gives it great value. It iseasily mined, and cokes with but little care. It is this ease of mining and coking that makes it possible to put coke from this districl