The Burning Rock: How Coal Influenced Our Culture
by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator
In this new series at Abandoned Mine Posts, we take a fascinating journey back through time. It’s a journey of discovery and a journey of connections. It’s the story of how coal came to be part of Western Pennsylvania life and the story of the coal connections that would shape our future.
Part I The Beginning
Mankind had recognized the value of coal since it was used in China around 8,000 BC and even further back still, in parts of Europe about 10,000 years ago. But, in order to understand how coal mining got its start in our own backyard and eventually involved itself in our evolution as a nation, we have to take the “wayback” machine and travel back to another place and another time. Namely, early England, just before the Roman invasion.
Even before the Roman conquest throughout the first centuries BC and AD, coal had been used sporadically in England. Once folks figured out that this little black rock burned, it became useful for such simple, day-to-day needs such as: home heating, drying grain, funeral pyres, and making the odd weapon or two—which of course, led to more funeral pyres. In those first several hundred years of the common era in England, coal usage caught on rather slowly.
Coal began to be seen as an actual resource in England at around the 11th century when easily obtainable surface outcrops were mined. At that time, coal became more useful in metalworking, particularly smelting. Strangely, all coal was often referred to in the Medieval period as “sea coal”, even if found miles inland. The term “sea coal” may have been used because coal arrived at other ports such as London by sea from other areas of the country. However, a more likely explanation is that sea-coal was originally found in a washed-up form on the beaches of the North-East and other parts of the country.
Coal mining in 17th century China.
The depletion of those surface outcrops by the 13th century, led to the advent of underground mining. That, as we all know, led to a whole new ball of wax. This measley lump of rock was just beginning to show how it would influence a civilization. Well, back to England in the 13th century.
Coal was certainly known and used here and there in early England, but for various reasons, one of those principally being the odor released when it was burned, it really didn’t catch on as much as one would think. Trees were abundant, charcoal could be made easily from trees, and so charcoal remained the fuel of choice for a fairly long time.
Over the years, as England became the center of industrial growth in the world, there was a need for more and more charcoal to fuel the furnaces to make the iron that served as the building block for this industrial growth. The increasing demand for charcoal led to widespread deforestation which of course, led to the subsequent shortage of said charcoal. Now, without the charcoal to fuel the furnaces,to make the iron, to create the machinery, to advance the civilization, it comes as no surprise that people, especially those involved with industry, were very, very concerned about the future of their livelihoods and indeed the future of the country. Things began to look bleak. That’s when folks started looking at coal in a different light. Here begins coal’s influence on industrial economies, technology, and of course, politics.
By the 16th century, coal was becoming widely used in England although the tremendous smoke and odor problems were causing discontent and severe health problems among the residents in the large population centers. In fact, air pollution as fodder for conversation, is not a 20th century invention. Even in 16th century England, air pollution was a big topic in the pubs. But, despite the problems associated with it, coal use and the associated poor air quality would eventually be seen as facts of everyday life.
When the English began settling the land that was destined to become the United States, they brought their collective history and knowledge about their industrial past with them along with their china, beer, and particularly bland-tasting food. So, when coal was eventually discovered in Eastern Pennsylvania in the early 1700s, that was a good thing, right? Not quite. Anthracite coal was found to be very difficult to ignite and there really wasn’t a good, dependable way to transport it to the early population centers of Philadelphia and New York.
The most immediate way to transport coal from the Anthracite region was to place it on barges and take a “log flume” ride down the local waterways. While that ride was most assuredly very exciting for those who manned the barges (if they survived the trip), most of the coal wound up in the bottom of the rivers. It wasn’t long before they realized it really wasn’t worth the bother. Besides which, “Penn’s Woods” was absolutely loaded, and I mean LOADED with trees, and by default, charcoal. So, being there was so much of an easily-obtainable, more “familiar” type of fuel out there, namely charcoal, there wasn’t too much interest in Pennsylvania coal at that time. But, things were about to happen that would change that attitude.