Ligonier Valley Rail Road Newspaper Articles
We have compiled over 1,400 newspaper articles that mention the Ligonier Valley Railroad, or related subjects. The articles were originally published starting in 1873 and our collection runs through 1995. Enjoy!
Ligonier Echo
Wednesday, January 29, 1902
Ligonier Valley Coal Now Sold
Bought By Oliver & Snyder Steel Co., Pittsburgh
Coal Field To Be Operated
Will Give Ligonier Valley A New Financial Impetus Farmers To Receive First Payment Within Twenty Days They Receive From $75 To $100 Per Acre For The Coal From 1,500 to 2,000 Acres Have Been Sold
The Pittsburgh vein of bituminous coal, lying in Ligonier and Fairfield townships, northeast of Ligonier, has been sold. This territory consists of some 1,500 to 2,000 acres
of good coal suitable for shipping or coking purposes. This territory has been optioned several times and the sale was finally arranged by Dr. M. W. Miller, H. E. Marker, Esq., Paul Gaither, Esq., and A. H. Bell, Esq., last week in which the Oliver company of Pittsburgh became the purchaser. The price paid to the farmers for the coal underlying their farms ranges from $75 to $100 per acre, one-third of which is to be paid down and the balance in two equal payments. This sale will put considerable money into the hands of the farmers of that section.
It is claimed that steps will be taken at once by the Oliver company to operate this coal field and the coal will be mined and part of it coked while the balance will be shipped. The building of coke ovens, the mining of the coal and the construction of a railroad from Ligonier to tap the coal field will mean the employment of a large number of men in this section and will give our valley a financial impetus such as it has never had heretofore.
To mine, coke and ship even 1,500 acres of the thickness of the Pittsburgh vein means a great amount of labor and expense and must bring a considerable amount of money into circulation and will evidently benefit in a financial way many people of the valley.
The working of this coal may bring into market the Freeport coal which underlies the Pittsburgh vein and is supposed to underlie the entire valley. On last Saturday, almost the time of sale of this coal, a meeting of the farmers of Ligonier, Cook and Donegal
townships was held at Harold, Cook township, to devise a plan and means of putting down two or three test holes in the valley south of Ligonier to determine the thickness and quality of the coal and then negotiate with capitalists for the sale of the territory most of which has been leased.
The hidden treasures of Ligonier valley must soon be brought to light and placed on the market of the world.