History of anthracite coal mining in Pennsylvania competition with the Schuylkill Navigation Company, until the Reading Railroad eventually leased out the Schuylkill Navigation Company in 1870. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad would become the major carrier of anthracite from the northern fields to NYC (Dublin, Licht, 15-17). While the extensive railroad systems made transporting more efficient, they also lowered the price of coal in distant markets such as Philadelphia and NYC relative to the prices in areas surrounding the mines. In 1840 the wholesale price of anthracite in Philadelphia relative to the mine price was 3.6, and by 1864 the ratio was 1.3. A similar drop
Anthracite February 1808, by Judge Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on an open grate in a fireplace. Anthracite differs from wood in that it needs a draft from the bottom, and Judge Fell proved with his grate design that it was a viable heating fuel. In spring 1808, John and Abijah Smith shipped the first commercially mined load of anthracite down the Susquehanna River from Plymouth, Pennsylvania, marking the birth of commercial anthracite mining in the United States. From that first mine, production rose to an all-time high of over 100 million tons in 1917. Anthracite usage was inhibited by the