Abandoned and Forgotten Communities in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is home to many abandoned and forgotten communities, each with its own unique story.

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Pennsylvania is home to many abandoned and forgotten communities, each with its own unique story. Brownsville, once a thriving center of industry and transportation, is now struggling with economic decline and a shrinking population. Clairton, a former steel town, has experienced a similar fate, with high unemployment rates and a struggling school system. And McKeesport, another former steel town, has undergone a long period of deindustrialization and disinvestment, leading to high poverty rates and a struggling downtown. Despite these challenges, these communities remain an important part of Pennsylvania’s history and culture, and efforts are underway to revitalize and preserve them for future generations.

Brownsville

Brownsville, Pennsylvania, was first settled in 1785 as the site of a trading post a few years after the defeat of the Iroquois. The trading post soon became a tavern and inn and received emigrants heading west, and developed into an industrialized community and transportation hub. Its population peaked at 8,000 in 1940 and began to decline because of post-World War II suburban development on its fringes and a restructuring of the railroad and steel industries that caused a severe loss of jobs. The borough had a population of just over 2,100 in 2020.

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Clairton

Clairton, Pennsylvania, was incorporated on April 12, 1903, and was centered around Clairton Works, the largest coke manufacturing facility in the United States. The production of coke was vital for the pig iron blast furnaces that produced steel throughout the region. The population of Clairton peaked at nearly 20,000 residents in the 1950s, but a catastrophic collapse of the domestic steel industry caused the town to be declared economically stressed in 1988.

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McKeesport

McKeesport, Pennsylvania, established in 1795, remained a small village until 1830, when coal mining began in the region. The town peaked at 55,000 residents in 1940 during a time when National Tube Works dominated the local industry. The decline and eventual closure of National Tube and other steel plants in the area, along with a massive fire that destroyed a significant portion of downtown in 1976, led to McKeesport’s population collapsing to under 20,000 by 2010.

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Nanty Glo

Nanty Glo is a coal mining community located in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Its name is derived from the Welsh Nant y Glo, meaning “stream of coal.” ⁴ The area includes the main town and several patch towns, as well as coal mines that were operated by companies such as Bethlehem Mines (a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel), the Coleman-Weaver Company, the Kerr Company, Peacock, Peale, and others. These operations were part of the Black Lick Field, a coal field known for low and medium-volatile bituminous coal, particularly within the Upper, Middle, and Lower Kittanning seams. ¹

Originally known as Glenglade, the community established a post office on November 21, 1894. ² By 1896, it had developed into a lumber camp operated by Levi Swanson, with dwellings built along both sides of the South Branch of Blacklick Creek. The creek’s name refers to visible coal seams along its banks. ³ That same year, Dr. James W. Dunwiddie of Pine Flats, Indiana County, opened the first commercial coal mine, initially named Nanty Glo No. 1. ² A railroad spur constructed by the Pennsylvania Railroad was completed in 1899. The settlement was officially renamed Nant-y-Glo on February 20, 1901, adopting the Welsh name meaning “stream of coal.” ³

The Heisley Mine, established in 1915, became the largest mining operation in the area. ² It was initially run by the Coleman-Weaver Company as Heisley Mine No. 3. In 1922, the company dissolved, and partner John Heisley Weaver, a Philadelphia industrialist, acquired full ownership. Coleman-Weaver also owned mines in Revloc and Colver and founded the Cambria & Indiana Railroad, which served numerous mines throughout Cambria County well into the 20th century. Weaver also controlled mining operations in Heilwood (formerly Possum Glory), a town named after his nickname, “Heil.” Following Weaver’s death in 1934, the Heisley Mine was sold in 1948 to Bethlehem Mines. It was subsequently renamed Monroe Mine No. 131, then Bethlehem Mine 31. Its main entrance was later relocated from Nanty Glo to Jackson Township, at the Leidy Portal. The mine ceased operations in the 1980s.

Additional mining operations included the Lincoln Mine, opened in 1900; the Springfield Mine, opened in 1907 by the Peale, Peacock & Kerr Company; a mine opened by the Emma Coal Company in 1909; and the Webster Mine, later acquired by the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company. ² Smaller mines that sold by the truckload to homeowners for heating purposes included Bech, Cornely, Dorsch, Ebandjieff, Johnson, Lorraine, and Yobbagy.

By 1940, Nanty Glo was sustained by four active bituminous coal mines. ² During World War II, Nanty Glo was the leading coal-producing town in the United States. ⁴ During this period, coal workers went on strike, causing a significant decline in coal production available for shipment overseas to support the war effort. In response, President Roosevelt intervened to help negotiate an end to the strike. Beginning in the 1950s, the town’s industry diversified to include a chemical plant, a soda bottling factory, a plastics factory, and a dress manufacturing company.

In April 1980, Bethlehem Mines closed Nanty Glo Mine No. 31, the last deep mine in Nanty Glo, due to reduced demand for metallurgical coal at its Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, laying off 300 miners. ^{5 6} Additionally, deep mine reserves had been declining, making it more costly to extract and sell coal profitably in a market weakened by cheaper supplies from Western states. ⁷ Due to the closure of the mines and the decline and eventual shutdown of a Bethlehem Steel plant in nearby Johnstown in 1992, Nanty Glo’s population declined significantly from its peak in the 1940s. ⁸

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Other

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Sources

1. DellaMea, Chris. “Nanty Glo, PA.” Appalachian Coalfields.
2. Federal Writers’ Project. Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State. 1st ed., Oxford University Press, 1940, p. 393.
3. “The Breezewood of the Ghost Town Trail.” Nanty Glo Borough.
4. McKenzie, Chris. “Nanty Glo.” The Daily American, 28 May 2014, p. A10.
5. “Bethlehem To Close Mine Friday.” The Indiana Gazette, 8 Oct. 1980, p. 37.
6. “Bethlehem Lays Off 600 Miners.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 29 Apr. 1980, p. 4.
7. “After the Coal Mines Close.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 Mar. 1989, p. 22.
8. Park, Minju. “Nanty Glo struggles to find a future beyond coal, steel.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 13 Nov. 2018, pp. B1-B3.