While our steel production history is often celebrated, coal mining also played a large role in Western Pennsylvania history. Mining started here in the mid-1700s, and as industry increased, so did the amount of mining. The Pittsburgh coal seam, first identified in Coal Hill (now Mount Washington), extends south and west from Pittsburgh into Washington and Westmoreland counties and was heavily mined. Some mines continue to operate to this day.
Due to the region’s history and number of abandoned mines, an office of the National Mine Map Repository is located here in Pittsburgh, and a project has also recently been started to digitize these maps. While these are great resources, many mine maps either don’t exist or contain inaccuracies, making it very difficult to pinpoint the areas of the city containing mines and thus at risk for mine subsidence.
While most of the mining extended from the Mount Washington side of the Monongahela River down the Mon Valley, some areas of the current East End were also mined, including Greenfield and Hazelwood. The map below is something I cobbled together based on a few sources to show the approximate areas of the city that contained mines. Click on the image for a larger version.
The sections of the map in various colors represent Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods and are based on maps available from Wikipedia. The semi-transparent gray areas with red lines are the areas thought to have been mined based on a map by the US Geological Survey. I also put in several neighborhood names and the street names that form the borders of Greenfield and Hazelwood.
I’d like to emphasize that this map is only an approximation and is by no means a definitive guide to where mines are located. The fact is that our neighborhood does contain mines, and getting mine subsidence insurance, which is not normally included in homeowner’s insurance, is probably a good idea!
