Graceton/Coral
Our towns
Coral --originally named "Oklahoma," Coral was renamed in 1902; local folklore says that the name was derived from the statement of an "oldtime coal prospector," evidently a far-sighted man, who stated to an early oral historian, "the coal and clay hereabouts will be as valuable as coral."
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Graceton --originally known as "Ranson," after the railroad station that was in that area; many people believe that the town was named for a relative, namely, a daughter, of Harry McCreary, the town's first postmaster.
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An exurb from The History of Coke, by Eileen MountJoy:
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In nearby Indiana County, rich coal fields awaited the arrival of the BR&P Railway, and the Indiana Times lamented in February, 1882: "there is not a single coke oven in Indiana County." By 1886, however, the first stirrings of a future coke industry were felt a few miles from Blairsville. That year, George Mikesell, a successful farmer, decided to expand his local coal business by building 12 beehive coke ovens on his land nine miles from Indiana. Firebrick from Mikesell's ovens were made at Black Lick by Meldron and Company. Once completed, the tiny battery of ovens were charged with coal, and in the summer of 1887, the first coke made in Indiana County was pulled on Mikesell's property. Later, additional coal to supply the ovens was leased from small mines at nearby Reed. An initial load of coke, sold to the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, proved satisfactory, and soon the plot of ground on which the ovens sat had a name; the little plant and the surrounding area became appropriately known as "Mikesell Station."
Encouraged by his early success, George Mikesell slowly acquired an increasing number of customers. But after only a year in the coke business, limited capital forced him to sell his ovens to J. M. Guthrie, Jacob Graff, and G. T. Kirkland, who constructed an additional 37 beehives on the site. In 1890, ownership of Indiana County's first coke ovens changed again. That year, Guthrie, Graff and Kirkland, having tried their hands at the coke business, sold their interests to a firm composed of J. W. Moore of Greensburg, John McCreary, and Harry McCreary. Under the direction of the new owners, George Mikesell's original string of 12 ovens was enlarged to 15 and "Plant No. 2" was planned and put under construction. Eventually, the number of ovens totalled 202. At the same time, the town of Graceton came into existence to house the coal and coke workers who came to work at the mines and ovens.
Harry McCreary, although not yet 30 years old at the time of his venture into Indiana County coke production, was no stranger to beehive ovens. After completing a course of study at the Utica (New York) Business College, young McCreary secured a position as secretary and manager of the properties of J. W. Moore, a successful Connellsville coke operator. During those years, J. W. Moore and his brother owned a large coke plant near Uniontown. In 1885, Moore began the development of his coking coal lands in Westmoreland County. At that site, Harry McCreary was given the responsibility of construction of 500 ovens at two plants known as Mamouth No. 1 and No. 2. During the building, young McCreary became familiar with all aspects of the coke industry. In 1889, J. W. Moore sold his Westmoreland coke facilities to the formidable Henry Clay Frick. The selling price was reputedly $1,250,000 surely a testimony to the capability of McCreary's management of the properties. Therefore, after the sale, Frick asked McCreary to remain as manager of the plants, and offered an increased salary. Having completed six months in that capacity, however, young Harry decided to join J. W. Moore, his former employer, as a full partner in the McCreary Coke Company.
At Graceton, serious problems claimed the attention of the new owners. Graceton coal contained a higher percentage of impurities than that of its competitors in the Connellsville region. For the first few months, McCreary made coke with coal just as it came from the mines at Graceton, but the resulting product was less than satisfactory. In 1894, after several experiments, McCreary adapted plans for a coal washing plant which cleaned the coal of much of its slate and pyrites before being charged into the ovens. The washing system gave dramatic results, and within a short time, advertising circulars billed Graceton coke as lithe best in the world." In a 1977 interview with Ernest B. Fricke, Ralph McCreary related that his parents, Harry and Zett McCreary, were married in 1894, and at first, lived in Indiana. But "... father was superintendent of the mine and coke plant at Graceton and was installing some kind of machinery for washing and cleaning coal -- something new in the country, really. And the only way he could get to Graceton from Indiana, a nine-mile trip, was to take a train early in the morning and come back on the train late in the evening. "So, because (my father) wanted to be closer to his work he suggested to mother that they move down and live in a company house. She was a good sport and went along with it. I was born in a house at Graceton. In 1898, we moved back to Indiana." In the midst of Harry McCreary's success, tragedy struck. Late in 1898 the coal washer at the Graceton plant burned. Undaunted, the young coke producer started over again, and four months after the fire another washer stood on the same spot, rumbling thunderously as it processed clean coal for the ovens.
On January 1, 1900, the Graceton coke plant changed hands once more. On that date, Harry McCreary, having bought out J. W. Moore's share of the McCreary Coke Company, sold the business to Youngstown Steel Company, whose investors renamed the plant "The Graceton Coke Company." The property on the day of transfer consisted of the two coke plants, "the best washer in the county," company store, and "company houses enough to accommodate 200 families." Shortly after the purchase, the Indiana County Gazette reported: "There are no dull seasons at Graceton. The market for the product is always sure, as the owners of the plant, the Youngstown Steel Company, burn the coke in their own furnaces, which are rarely idle. The ovens at Graceton are under the management of a skillful cokemaker, Colonel Everhart Bierer. Colonel Bierer received his training as an engineer and coke man in the Connellsville field. At the two plants, 300 men are employed. The steel company gives Superintendent Bierer a free hand in the management, and simply ask for results; and they get them in quantity and quality a coke unsurpassed anywhere in the United States."
When purchased by Youngstown Steel, the town at Graceton was filling up rapidly. Albert "Led" Oswalt has spent his entire life at Graceton, and most residents know him best in his role as community postmaster. "Led" explains that, at first, Graceton was known as "Ranson." "When the Pennsylvania Railroad went-through between Blairsville and Indiana, there were no towns at all along the line -- just stations. There was Reed Station, and Rugh Station, and where Graceton is now -that was called Ransom Station. So when Harry McCreary applied to establish a post office here, he put 'Ransom' on the blank, but the application was returned because there was already a town of that name in the hard coal region. So they named the town Graceton. Many people believe that the town was named for a member of the McCreary family, but really, it's a mystery where the name came from. At any rate, the first post office was established here in 1892, and Harry McCreary was the first postmaster." Following the pattern of earlier Jefferson County coal and coke towns, the houses at Graceton soon sheltered families of immigrants who came seeking employment. An 1890 edition of the Indiana Times noted that "there are 200 Italian employees at the old Mikesell coak works." One resident adds: "many Slovaks, Poles, Croatians and Hungarians also migrated here." "Led" Oswalt recalls, there were 67 double houses here at one time, and a few single houses. And there were nine shanties near the coke ovens -- just one or two rooms. Mostly bachelors lived there."
The town of Graceton, like other mining towns of the period, was self-contained. "We had a company store," Oswalt says, "and a pool hall with two bowling alleys in it; the building stood 'till 1938. After a time, the first company store proved small, and they built a new one. After that, the old one was used as a dance hall and basketball court. "We had a Justice of the Peace in town who kept a shoe repair shop; he also had a place in his shop to hold the hearings. Most people shopped at the company store, but a man named Asper kept a dry goods store below town. And another man, a Mr. Pearlstein, had a meat market and grocery store. He was shot and killed when someone-robbed his store, and after that Mike and Ray Rich took over the business."
For recreation, "Led" explains, "Most people just stayed in Graceton. Youngstown Steel built a community park for the kids, with swings and slides and a Maypole. On Sunday, the band always practiced there, and people came and sat on the grass to listen. There was always baseball on holidays, and races, and greased pig contests. On Halloween, the men of Graceton would dress up and go to Indiana on the train for the parade. Fair week was a big time too. Special trains ran every 15 minutes between here and Indiana, and they were always filled.
"Graceton was a pretty town. There was a fence around the company property, and it was always kept whitewashed. It really looked nice. And although the families in Graceton were always allowed to keep cows and chickens, the front row of houses was restricted -- I guess the officials thought that made the town look tidier!"
By 1908, the Graceton Coke Company, under the ownership of Youngstown Steel, was kept busy filling orders in New Jersey and New England. Locally, the Indiana Foundry, manufacturers of sand-drying stoves and many other articles, claimed that the Graceton coke was "better than Connellsville." For nearly 20 years, the Graceton Coke Company continued to produce "low-ash, high-carbon, low-sulphur foundry coke." Under the direction of superintendent C. M. Lingle, "business boomed," and "20 large cars were sent out daily. In the summer of 1920, the plants and town at the old Mikesell Station were transferred a fourth time. A July issue of the Indiana Evening Gazette told the story: "Graceton Coke is sold to New York Interests: the plant with all machinery and equipment, and houses, was acquired by Warren Delano and associates. The price is estimated to be three quarters of a million dollars. Mr. Delano (an uncle of FDR) has other interests in Indiana County." After the purchase, the name of the plant was changed to Graceton Coal and Coke Company.
Throughout the twenties, sales of coke at Graceton fluctuated with the market. By early 1935, only eight ovens were in operation; most had been shut down since 1932. "In June, 1936, "Led" Oswalt says, "the Graceton Coal and Coke Company went bankrupt. In August, the company's stock was sold at a receivership in front of the company store. Four men bought the plant; one of them was Abe Light of Punxsutawney. Then the name was changed again to 'Coal Mining Company of Graceton.' "For a while," Oswalt continues, "things were at a standstill; the coal and coke business was really bad. Then World War II broke out and coke was in demand again. Mr. Light bought out the other three men and made coke throughout the war. "After the war, the Coal Mining Company of Graceton leased the ovens to someone else for a couple of years, but the last men to operate the beehives at Graceton were Smith and Burns, who leased them from the Coal Mining Company of Graceton. They produced coke for eight or ten years. Finally, in March, 1953, the Graceton ovens cooled off for good." During the years of coke production at Graceton, a second beehive operation existed just a few miles south. In 1980, the Indiana Coal and Coke Company was founded by Jacob and Paul Graff, J. M. Guthrie, G. W. Hoover, John Elkin, and John R. Caldwell. In the next few years, 24 coke ovens were built on the site and a tiny company town of six houses was established. Named "Oklahoma," the settlement housed cokeworkers from the Indiana Coal and Coke Company plant.
The beehive ovens at Oklahoma were also destined to undergo several transfers of ownership. In 1902, Harry McCreary again entered the coal and coke business with the purchase of the Indiana Coal and Coke Company lands, tipple, and houses. In addition, McCreary purchased 6,000 more acres of adjoining coal lands. Upon completion of all his transactions, McCreary sold the entire parcel of property to Joseph Wharton, a Philadelphia investor whose corporation also owned an iron foundry in Wharton, New Jersey. By 1902, the name of the plant and town had been changed to "Coral" local folklore says that the name was derived from the statement of a "oldtime coal prospector." This individual, evidently a far-sighted man, remarked to an early oral historian, "the coal and clay hereabouts will be as valuable as Coral." On acquisition of the Coral properties, Joseph Wharton was understandably anxious to secure the best management for his new plant, and persuaded McCreary to remain as temporary superintendent. By late 1903, 300 ovens and 150 company houses stood at the location. His work completed, Harry McCreary resigned his position with the Wharton corporation; he was succeeded by Thomas Murray.
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