ANNA EVANS VIA UNSPLASH A stock photo shows a pile of coal.

When you ask about the big past industries of Clinton County, everyone will tell you about lumber. Which is accurate enough, as far as it goes. Lumbering was a big deal here in the county, and provided for a lot of our economic success. Personally, I’ve always contended that the big industry was really shipping. Nobody thinks of that. Without the river and canals to ship the lumber or other materials, nothing would have succeeded.

But there were other resources here that brought in a lot of money. Clay and bricks were one. Coal was another.

Coal was a big deal in some areas of the county. According to Linn’s History, one of the biggest coal-mining areas in Clinton County was in the Tangascootac area of Bald Eagle and Beech Creek Townships. (Linn’s History was published in 1883, so I’ll admit I’m possibly working from outdated information here.) Chapman, Leidy and Noyes Townships had a pretty good coal seam, and some coal was discovered and mined in Keating, but that was pretty remote and didn’t really pay off.

The first discovery of coal in what would become Clinton County was done by a kid. James David was a boy at the time, and he found coal in Bald Eagle Township. Initially he was not impressed, assuming it to be black lead, but he took it to some older and smarter people, and they examined it and realized it was actually coal. (James David later grew up to be a county commissioner.)

Upon further examination, three veins of coal were found, but there was a considerable amount of sulphur mixed in with it. Almost immediately, the Jersey Shore Company was formed to mine the coal. Remember, at the time, this was part of Lycoming County; Clinton wouldn’t be founded until 1839. They tried mining the coal, but because of all the minerals it was mixed with, it had a tendency to burst into flames during shipping, which was not ideal on the resale end. The Jersey Shore Company did not last long.

Some years later, John Reaville came along. He helped defend a company’s title to their mine by living in the mine to occupy it for eight months, and was rewarded with a job running their mining operations in the Tangascootac area. Several towns were built up to aid with this: Revelton, Eagleton, Rock Cabin and Peacock, which was named because the coal there had a bright, luminescent shine to it.

In Noyes Township, coal was discovered about 1860. It was mined in a sort of haphazard way for almost 20 years before anyone seriously buckled down and made an industry of it. That was when the town of Bitumen was founded, around 1880, and it was named after the coal they were digging up there. The Kettle Creek Coal and Mining Company hired immigrants from Sweden and Slovakia, and then in 1889 wound up expanding and building a lot of homes, schools, churches and a union hall.

Of course, mining is not the world’s safest profession. There were accidents and tragedies. On Aug. 26, 1913, a miner was killed when he fell between shipping cars in the mine. An undertaker named Waters was sent in to bring his body out.

The Clinton County Times reported on another disaster on Jan. 16, 1903, with the headline “Mine Horror Near Home.” Two men accidentally set off some dynamite and buried themselves in the mine.

These days, most of the mines have been sealed. Without coal mining taking place, there’s no point in inviting accidents. But the coal is an important part of our past — for almost 200 years, it’s been a part of our history.

— — — —

Lou Bernard is a Lock Haven resident with a keen interest in the history of this area and may be reached at loulhpa@gmail.com or 570-660-4463.