Mines and Company Towns

Coal mines, and the company towns that grew up around them, are part of the rich legacy of Pennsylvania’s coal culture. The pages below provide background information on several nearby company towns and mines.
Clymer Looking Back
A reprint of a 1980 article about Clymer's Diamond Jubilee, marking the coal town's 75th year.
The CBC Community of Commodore: A New Kind of Coal Town
A history of one of the planned mining communities build by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation.
Ernest Mining Plant
The Ernest Plant was a coal mining and coking operation opened in 1902 by the R&P Coal and Iron Company.
The Company Town of Iselin
Iselin was an R&P Coal & Iron Company town built to work the Elders Ridge coalfield.
The Company Town of Lucerne
Lucerne was built on the same R&P railway extension as Iselin, and was given its name to honor the home country of Adrian Iselin, Jr., R&P's principal investor.
The Company Town of Sagamore
Sagamore started as a "shanty town" for workers constructing rail lines to new coalfields, and quickly grew into a coal town in its own right.
The Company Town of Whiskey Run
For over 50 years, the community of Whiskey Run has been synonymous with violence, secrecy and unsolved murder.
Norvelt and Penn-Craft, Pennsylvania
Maps and information about the first subsistence homestead communities in Pennsylvania.
Photographs of Eureka Mine No. 37 at Windber, Pennsylvania
Photographs taken of Eureka Mine No. 37 at Windber, Pennsylvania.
Mines and Company Towns
IUP Special Collections presents essays and photo collections from mines and company towns in Western Pennsylvania.