Lumbering, Coal, & Railroads Spur DuBois Growth
1871–Lumbering
Lumbering was the key to the early development of DuBois, but other industries followed.
John DuBois arrived from the Williamsport area of PA in 1871 to begin his lumbering operations in what was then Brady Twp. He had purchased large tracts of timber in Clearfield County and with the coming of the Allegheny Valley Low Grade Railroad his gateway to the lumber markets of the country was assured. He first built the “little mill” with equipment/machinery he had to haul overland from Clearfield. This mill was completed in 1872 and was used to provide lumber to construct the “big mill.” Other operations were added including the box mill, and iron works. Lumber railroads were constructed to bring the logs out of the forest. John DuBois died on 6 May 1986. His empire was passed to his nephew John E. DuBois who continued to grow and expand the various operations.
In 1883 John DuBois had associated himself with E.D. and A.R. Van Tassel in the opening of a tannery. the operation used the hemlock bark from the DuBois lumber operations. At the peak of the operations the the tannery had a capacity of 1400 sides of leather per day and employed 500 people.
Sidney Fuller was another lumberman who located in DuBois and had a lumber mill and two planning mills as well as a grist mill along DuBois Ave. and Fuller St. Sidney would purchase logs from Mr. DuBois, as well as buy supplies for his various mills from the DuBois Store. Sidney Fuller died on 29 August 1898 in DuBois, he was buried in Falls Creek, a community he helped to found.
At the same time lumbering was going strong, many deep coal shafts and slopes were being opened to bring soft coal to prominence in the region . This coal was transported to markets throughout the country and to power the steam locomotives of the time.
The need to get the lumber and coal to market attracted the railroads to the community.
1883 — Coal Mining Arrives
In the early years of the 20th Century, coal mining was one of the main industry’s in the DuBois area.
The first “drift” mine was opened in 1883 in a thousand acre tract between DuBois and Falls Creek. Bell, Lewis & Yates, opened new mines west of town and another south of Sandy Lick Creek, calling the former the Rochester Colliery. Bell, Lewis & Yates constructed a company store at the corner of Long, Booth, and State streets to service the miners and their families. A large number of houses grew up on both sides of Booth Street including the Baker house, where the Great Fire of 1888 would have its origins.
The Berwind-White Coal Company opened a shaft mine east of DuBois in 1893. The mine was known as Shaft #1. An explosion in the mine in 1896 claimed the lives of 13 miners. The Buffalo & Susquehanna Iron & Coal Co. acquired the mine in1902. In 1904 the B&SIC opened a second shaft mine known as Shaft #2 south of DuBois.
The Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Co. opened Helvetia No. 1 Slope Mine in 1891, where the company owned town became one of the most successful coal mining operations for over 50 years. Additional slope mines were opened in the area by the R&PIC company.
The Northwest Mining & Exchange Co. opened the Eriton Shaft Mine in 1905/1906. This mine was located about 3.5 miles south of DuBois. The company constructed company housing and the coal mine patch town of Eriton was born.
Coal meant everything to DuBois from a period beginning around 1883 and continuing for over 50 years. Millions of tons of coal were extracted from the ground as DuBois became known as one of the coal capitols of the nation.
Among the outsiders interested in the coal were the Goodyear family, the Berwind-White family, Bell, Lewis & Yates, the Robinson family, the Peale family, the Erie and New York Central Railroads, and eventually the Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh lines. The railroad interests led to the establishment of the B. R. & P. railroad car repair shops and locomotive works in DuBois.
Huge fortunes resulted from the coal mining, but ironically most of it went to the cities, to the men or corporations who invested in the mines. Much of the money went to New York, Buffalo, and Rochester. There were no coal barons in DuBois.
However, thousands of men were employed by the mines, bringing that economic prosperity to DuBois and the surrounding area.
1874 -1930 — Railroads Make an Impact
The first railroad to enter the DuBois area was the Allegheny Valley Low Grade (AVLG). Construction started in 1871 at East Brady on the Allegheny River and was completed to Driftwood in 1874. This line became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. The first through train of cars going over the line was May 4, 1874. This line was the catalyst for an economic boom in the DuBois/Falls Creek Area. The completion of this line was probably the reason John DuBois established a mill here. He could ship his finished products to the markets both to the East and West. In 1912 10 passenger trains each day ran on this line.
In 1882 another PRR line came into this area. It was the Ridgway & Clearfield Railroad, but it only ran from Ridgway to Falls Creek where it connected with the AVRR. This line was a north/south line. In 1912 6 passenger trains each day ran on this line.
In March of 1883 another north/south line entered the county. It was the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad (BR & P). This line continued on to Punxsutawney. It finally reached Pittsburgh in 1900. In 1912 16 passenger trains each day ran on this line. The BR&P also had a subsidiary line called the Clearfield & Mahoning Railroad (C & M. This line was incorporated in October of 1890 and connected with the Beech Creek Railroad in Clearfield. This interconnect allowed access to the eastern markets through the New York Central system (NYC).
The Falls Creek & Reynoldsville Railroad (FC & R) was primarily a coal line but it also provided passenger service from the Rathmel/Soldier area thru Reynoldsville to Falls Creek. Constructed in 1885 with small additions to new mines, such as the Rochester Mine and the London mine. This line was abandoned in 1934.
The Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad (B & S) arrived in DuBois October of 1904. Their freight and passenger stations were located where the SSA Office and Martins are located today. This line was owned by the Goodyear Brothers of Buffalo, NY. They were timber men initially that then expanded into coal mining, and coke production in our area. They constructed a tunnel at Sabula as well as Cottage Hill and West Liberty so that their line could continue south to their coal fields in Jefferson, Indiana, & Armstrong Counties. The B & S ran 4 passenger trains through DuBois in 1912.
Other lines that had trackage rights on some of the above listed lines were the New York Central, The Erie, and the Franklin & Clearfield. The DuBois/Falls Creek areas became a Railroad Center at the end of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. Coal powered the steam engines that moved the cars, and many of the coal mines if not all in our area were owned or a subsidiary of the railroad companies.
1954 — The Last Train Ride
The DuBois/Falls Creek area was a major railroad center during the early years of the 20th Century. Some 38 passenger trains per day came through the town.
The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh (B.R. & P) line had a dozen trains scheduled daily. The Low Grade line of the Pennsylvania connected with the main line at Driftwood and Erie to the north; the Buffalo and Susquahanna (B & S) extended from DuBois through the Bennetts Valley.
Two fliers passed through each day, one bound for Pittsburgh and the other for Buffalo, and both hauling five or six passenger car sections with dining cars and parlor cars. The railroads meant employment for a thousand persons in DuBois with the locomotive and car shops.
On June 15, 1954, hundreds of area residents made the last ride on the C & M Junction Division of the B & O Railroad from DuBois to Clearfield.
1896-1920s — The Street Car Era
Although DuBois is known for its railroad period, at one time a resident could also travel by street car.
The DuBois Traction Street Railroad Co. was organized in 1896. By that time the planned streets had been cut to sufficient width to lay ties and rails from the East Side to Rumbarger Cemetery on S. Main St.
The line eventually expanded to Dixon Ave. and beyond the city limits on S. Brady St. to Sykesville (the first electric trolly to Sykesville is shown in the photo) and Big Run where passengers could transfer to the Punxsutawney line. The line also extended to Falls Creek just beyond Edgemont Park and to the Pennsylvania Railroad passenger line at the corner of Liberty Boulevard and DuBois Ave. A spur line extended to the DuBois Fair Grounds.
The rise of the automobile in the 1920s signaled the end of the street car system in the DuBois area.