Related Guides
Geosciences (Including PA and Centre County)
Pennsylvania's Mineral Heritage (CAT Record) - contains information by commodity and by county. Lots of useful statistics.
Nonfuel Mineral Resources of Pennsylvania (PA Geologicial Survey PDF)
Historical statistics of Pennsylvania's mineral industries, 1759-1955
Historical statistics of Pennsylvania's mineral industries, 1956-1960
Historical statistics of Pennsylvania's mineral industries, 1961-1965
Historical statistics of Pennsylvania's mineral industries, 1966-1970
MSHA maintains this database of information on both active and inactive mines for the United States. The database is searchable by location, mine name, mine operator, commodity, and other parameters.
The USGS also reports state-level data as part of their Minerals Information service, some of which is provided in Excel format. Also useful is a simply map showing the location of commodity mining by county.
Digital sources for the Annual Reports on Mining Activities (HathiTrust) (PA DEP site)
Published since the 1870's this report contains production statistics, mine names, locations, owner information, and accident statistics. Prior to the mid-1880's the reports for anthracite and bituminous coal were produced by separate agencies, therefore early reports for bituminous coal are available as part III "Industrial Statistics" of the Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Pennsylvania, later the Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (HC107.P4 A3). Industrial minerals were included in these reports beginning with 1973. For print volumes in the Penn State collections, start at HD9547.P4 A33.
National Mine Map Repository
index to maps of abandoned mines in the United States.
PA Department of Environmental Protection Mine Map Repositories - There are two main repositories of original mine maps. The Pottsville location houses primarily anthracite mine maps; the Uniontown office houses bituminous mine maps.
The Pennsylvania Geological Survey also houses microfilmed copies of some PA mine maps.
Index to Maps of Abandoned Mines in Pennsylvania
This 1998 index contains over 11,000 entries for maps of abandoned mines in Pennsylvania. The actual maps are available from the National Mine Map Repository or from one of the PA Mine Mpa repositories.
Pennsylvania Mine Subsidence Program - This site links to township maps illustrating extent of undermined areas.
Coal Data from the Dept. of Energy - contains state-specific data.
History of Pennsylvania Bituminous Coal - This 1955 publication summarizes bituminous coal data by year and by county. (Excel file containing annual data for 1759-1948 and 1881-1930 by county.)
Index of Coal Mine Names and Companies of Southwestern Pennsylvania - this site also offers lists of coal mines by county.
Index to the coal mining districts of the Pennsylvania – supports search by county name only, from 1880s forward - Anthracite region or Bituminous region
The Earth and Mineral Sciences Library has a set of the Bituminous coal mine maps of Pennsylvania (see catalog record), created by the WPA during the 1930's. Sample images of these maps are available for Altoona and Philipsburg. These maps are based on 15-minute topographic quadrangles, divided into nine sections. (For example, Altoona1 represents the northwestern corner of the Altoona 15-minute quadrangle. Altoona9 represents the southeastern corner of the quadrangle.)
CONSOL Energy Mining Archives - photos of coal mining (from Historic Pittsburgh Image collections.
Coal Culture Projects (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
Anthracite Museum - Located in the heart of anthracite country in Scranton, PA, this organization
Pennsylvania page (U.S. Energy Information Administration) - data on production, pricing, etc. for all types of energy are included.
Pennsylvania Geological Survey Oil and Gas Resources page has links to historical information, data, and maps.
Oil and gas developments in Pennsylvania - Published annually by the Pennsylvania Geological Survey from 1950-1991 in the progress report series.
The WPA bituminous coal mine maps of Pennsylvania (see catalog record), created during the 1930's, sometimes show locations of oil and gas wells.
Introduction to Oil History - This evolving text by Samuel Pees features chapters on the early oil history of Pennsylvania.
PA*IRIS is the well information system maintained by the PA Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey. Archived images of oil and gas well records, geophysical logs, location plats and plugging certificates can be viewed. Use of PA*IRIS is free when accessed onsite at the Survey's Middletown or Pittsburg offices. Access is also available via the EMS Library upon appointment with a librarian. More information about PA*IRIS is available at http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/econresource/oilandgas/pa_iris_home/index.htm.
Directory of Nonfuel Mineral Producers in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Iron Furnace Sourcebook- an index to locations and names associated with the iron furnaces of Pennsylvania
A History of the Early Charcoal Furnaces of Center [sic] County- Franklin Ulf. 1927
Accidents
Mining Disasters - NIOSH maintains list chronological listing of major mining incidents for the United States. Chart lists date, mine name, city, state, number killed, mining sector (coal, limestone, etc.) and type of accident (explosion, fire, etc.). NIOSH also has data and charts related to mining injuries. Some other resources include:
MSHA Fatality Statistics - The Mine Safety and Health Administration maintains list page with annual data by state and by mining sector.
United States Mine Rescue Association
Registers of Mine Accidents (Pennsylvania State Archives) - There are listings of coal mine accidents in Pennsylvania from aprox. 1899-1972.
The Annual Reports of Mining Activities generally summarize accident data which appears in more detail elsewhere. From the 1800s-1914, more detailed accident data are available in the Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Part III, Industrial Statistics. Details include, date of accident, name, age, nationality, occupation, marital status, number of children,name of the mine, location of the mine, nature of the accident, and cause of the accident.
Various individuals have compiled lists of accidents by ethnicity or region. While the quality and completness of these tools vary, a few are listed below:
Old newspapers are a good source of information on older mining events. Try the Library of Congress' Chronicling American: Historic American Newspapers and America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922.
Quecreek report–
2003 report by the Mine Safety and Health Administration
Remediation
Operation Scarlift Reports–
reports on the remediation of areas impacted by historic mining practices.
Abandoned Mine Reclamation Clearinghouse (AMRC)–
the AMRC provides information about remediation of old mining sites.
Mine railroad information - The Annual Report of the Secretray of Internal Affairs of Pennsylvania, part IV contained listings of railroads, passengers and tonnage hauled as well as gauge information. The reports were published from around 1875-1917.
