First Mining of Pittsburgh Coal
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
This State's bituminous coal industry was born about 1760 on Coal Hill, now Mt. Washington. Here the Pittsburgh coal bed was mined to supply Fort Pitt. This was eventually to be judged the most valuable individual mineral deposit in the U.S.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Around 1760, colliers began digging into the hillside then called Coal Hill—today's Mt. Washington—to fuel the garrison at Fort Pitt. It was the first working of the great Pittsburgh coal seam, a bed of bituminous coal that would prove astonishingly rich. In time this deposit was reckoned among the most valuable single mineral finds in the country.
Why it matters
This modest wartime dig marks the birth of the bituminous coal industry that powered America's steel age and made Pittsburgh an industrial capital.
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Related events
- · Mining of the Pittsburgh coal bed
Themes & tags
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