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, August 31, 1904
Local Coal Territory Being Developed
Industries Being Pushed That Will Improve Our Town
Money And Enterprise At Work
Coal, Coke Ovens, Stone, Timber, Lime, Railroad, New Town Of North Ligonier New Homes In Ligonier Built, Others In Demand, Property Advancing In Price And Everything Indicating Enterprise And Activity Ligonier A Good Place For Business As Well As Health And Pleasure Seekers
There has of late years been a great deal of talk about the development of the coal territory of Ligonier valley. Leases have been taken all over the valley, many of which
have been allowed to lapse, and efforts have been made to induce foreign capital to take hold of the matter. It remained, however, for Seger Bros. to take the initiative in the coal business. They organized the Seger Coal & Coke Co., associating with them a number of Pittsburgh people and others who bought up a large scope of country of coal and timber land of about 6,000 acres north of Ligonier, organized the Westmoreland Central Railroad company and made arrangements to develop the coal territory they had secured.
Recently the company was reorganized and the name changed to the Colonial Coal & Coke company. The company is pushing the work forward by mining coal, building coke
ovens and constructing a railroad to intersect with the Ligonier Valley Railroad, over which by an amicable agreement it has been arranged to ship the coal. In addition to this a tract of land was bought from the H. R. Marker heirs and a plan of lots has been laid out along Mill Creek, the new town to be called North Ligonier. These lots are being extensively advertised in the Echo, other newspapers and by thousands of circulars being distributed. The opening sale of this plan of lots will be held on the grounds on September 3rd. A number of lots have already been sold and a new industrial town will
soon be added to our community. All this has been going on while the people of Ligonier scarcely realize that we are at the beginning of a great industrial enterprise destined to make our valley a great business center. Much of this business boom that is bound eventually to come to us is due to the foresight and enterprise of the Seger Bros., who are among the leading business men of the valley, and being natives of the valley we are proud to say that their business enterprise has always been a marked success.
It is our prediction that before many months coal, lumber, stone and other products will
be shipped by the Colonial Coal & Coke Co. from the valley and that fully 600 men will be then employed. All these things cannot help but make our town grow and increase in importance and wealth. There are people who are doubters of all this, but let them but wait and they will see that the above prediction will be fulfilled.
Go out along the line of the railroad to the works and see what is being done. Last Saturday afternoon in company with the engineer of the company we went out to see what was being accomplished in the way of mining and getting ready to coke and ship coal. We found North Ligonier plan of lots laid out and marked off ready for the opening sale. Starting near this point the new railroad has been graded ready for ties on up to the coke ovens on the Alex. Melville farm. The ties and rails have been placed in position for more than half a mile and men were busy at work extending this part of the job. We walked up the road until we came to where the coke ovens are being built. Here men are at work erecting 50 ovens, 25 to be completed at once. These ovens are located along the hillside and are so situated that the coke can be loaded on the cars with the least labor possible. A little farther along the tipple is being erected which is conveniently located near the ovens. The carpenters expect to raise the frame work this week. Still a short
distance on and we came to the opening of the coal mines. Two openings have been driven straight into the side of the hill 20 feet apart and parallel a distance of 325 feet. We went into one of them and found it the best opening we ever saw. It is driven perfectly straight with a smooth, dry and level bottom, a sold rock overhead with good coal the entire distance. The openings are nine feet wide and eight feet high. After going a short distance further the openings will be connected to afford a free passage of the air, thus affording good ventilation. From these openings there have been mined about
40,000 bushels of coal, nearly all of which is now piled up near the mouth of the mine ready for shipment. This is an excellent quality of coal good for shipping or coking purposes. The company burned its own lime and quarried stone near by for erection of the coke ovens. Everything for the working of the mines and the manufacture of coke is close at hand, enabling the doing of the work very cheap. The prospects for a fine paying coal plant are very good indeed.
All this and other industries cannot but vastly improve Ligonier financially. In fact our town has made remarkable improvements the past year or more. Real estate has advanced twenty-five per cent, there is a great demand for houses, though about twenty new ones have been put up this season. Fully fifty more could be rented did we but have them. We have fine water works, electric light plant and many other advantages. There is no better place that we know of to found a progressive, active, pleasant and healthy
home.