HARWICK MINE EXPLOSION (1904); HARMARVILLE MINER STATUE

Location: Cheswick, Pittsburgh, PA 15024

Coal mining in Pennsylvania took a terrible toll of death and injury for workers and environmental degradation for communities. Between 1890 and 1920, mining deaths exceeded 1,000 per year in the Commonwealth. The worst coal mining disaster in Allegheny County occurred in 1904 at the Harwick Mine running under the towns of Cheswick and Springdale. 

On January 25, 1904, a methane gas explosion killed 186 miners and several rescuers as well. Heroic efforts of the rescuers inspired Andrew Carnegie to set up the Carnegie Hero Fund. The United Mine Workers erecteda large stone memorial over the mass grave of 165 bodies, most burned beyond identification.

Harwick Mine Explosion mass grave, beside access road to Cheswick Power Plant, 151 Porter St., Springdale

The Allegheny Valley was termed the “Black Valley” less for its coal than for the ferocious repression of worker organization. In 1927, over a thousand people gathered in Harmarville to protest the execution of Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, and a trooper was killed while breaking up the rally on horseback. Harmarville miners were strong unionists whose heritage is honored by a statue dedicated in 2009 at the Harmar Fire Company. 

Harmarville Miner Statue, Harmar Volunteer Fire Co. l, Freeport Rd. and Herron Ave., Harmar

America’s most famous environmentalist, Rachel Carson, grew up in nearby Springdale and her father worked at the Harwick mine. In 2000, union painters, carpenters and sheet metal workers donated labor to restore the Rachel Carson Homestead.