History of anthracite coal mining in Pennsylvania control both the production and shipping aspects. With increased concentration of capital among the smaller number of operations they were able to create deeper and deeper mining shafts to reach new levels of coal (Dublin, Licht, 18-9). By the end of the 19th century the Pennsylvania anthracite industry was controlled by a handful of major railroad corporations. History of anthracite coal mining in Pennsylvania There are two types of coal found in Pennsylvania: anthracite (the “hard coal” found in Northeastern Pennsylvania below the Allegheny Ridge southwest to Harrisburg; also called “stone coal”, “rock coal” in the 1800s) and bituminous (“soft
Anthracite difficulty of igniting it. This was a particular concern in smelting iron using a blast furnace. With the invention of hot blast in 1828, which used waste heat to preheat combustion air, anthracite became a preferred fuel, accounting for 45% of US pig iron production within 15 years. Anthracite for iron smelting was later displaced by coke. From the late 19th century until the 1950s, anthracite was the most popular fuel for heating homes and other buildings in the northern US, until it was supplanted by oil-burning systems and more recently natural gas systems. Many large public buildings, such as