... and other stuff that is still there and interesting...............................518 Main Street Irwin PA 15642

 

Ardara PA

in North Huntingdon Township

Coke Ovens

 

The coke ovens in Ardara were built around 1880 by the Carnegie Coke Company. They closed sometime after 1901 when the new owner ( after the creation of USSteel and certain divestitures such as these ovens ) Henry Clay Frick shut them because of a strike by employees. ( in 1908, the local Irwin newspaper had an editorial questioning why hte ovens couldn't be reopened to get jobs; must have been a recession ) Someone appears to have attempted to reopen them as some were clearly rebuilt with more modern bricks, mortar etc. The mine was up on the hill above.

 

 

A RR spur is shown ( blue ) going into the ovens.