Cookie-cutter houses dot old mining towns
The coal-mining industry boomed here in the early 20th century. European immigrants poured into Western Pennsylvania to work in the mines and live in the houses built for them by the coal companies.
Many of these houses in coal patches throughout Washington and Greene counties were identical. The four houses in this week’s Mystery Photo are such “cookie-cutter” homes.
This photo from the archives of the Observer-Reporter has no accompanying information. It might be from Marianna or Mapletown, Finleyville or Francis Mine, Dilliner or Daisytown, or any other coal town of the early 1900s.
We hope our readers might be able to identify these particular houses, some of which may still exist, and name the location.
The design of the chimneys and the placement and shapes of the windows are important clues if the buildings are still standing.
If you think you know where this picture was taken, email Park Burroughs, retired executive editor, at pburroughs@observer-reporter.com, or call and leave a message for him along with your telephone number at 724-222-2200, extension 2400. With a little help from our readers, we may be able to solve this puzzle and publish our findings next Monday.