Iron Built Fayette County

This article was researched and written by PA Room volunteer Paul Davis. Thanks to Paul for contributing! Fayette County has a prominent industrial history and has long been synonymous with the coal boom of the 19th and early 20th century. Growing up, I remember my mother telling me that Uniontown had contained a large number…

The Mining Strike of July 1933

Like many of our patrons, we received mail from some distant locales this holiday season. One package arrived from the Museum of South Texas History, whose curator sent us two pictures to add to our collection. The images date back to 1933 and depict National Guard troops stationed in Brownsville during the coal strikes. Both…

The Rand Powder Mill Disaster, 1905

Next month marks the 109th anniversary of the Rand Powder Mill Explosion, a series of blasts at a Fayette County black powder factory that killed 18 people, shattered windows in Uniontown, and shook buildings as far away as Greensburg. The Pennsylvania Room maintains photos of the September 9, 1905 disaster that were taken by E.W. Hague,…

Judging (Year)Books by Their Covers

Ah, the most mundane of library tasks: “reading the shelves,” or going book by book and putting everything in order. A few weeks ago, after reading the general history and genealogy shelves in the room — yes, all of them — I decided that it was time to sort through our yearbooks. The collection was reorganized…