Sharon's Yesterdays & Tomorrow

An Outline of the Growth of Sharon and its Industries....

and a History of the McDowell National Bank, June 1935

Sharon's Industrial History 

Coal was first discovered by accident early in 1835, cropping out of the hillside west of Sharon on land owned by General Curtis. Charles Meek opened the first mine on the property. This was the beginning of the famous Mercer County block coal. 

Because the coal possessed a peculiar structure, and because it retained its shape until it fell into ashes, it was especially fitted for the manufacture of pig iron. Pig iron made from this coal in 1876 was claimed to be the best made in America. 

Mercer County block coal did not run in veins but was deposited in "basins" or “swamps”, varying in thickness from live to seven feet in the center. It tapered off into rock at the edges. The coal was removed usually from drift mines. The mine cars, of about 1200 pounds capacity, were pulled from the mines on wooden tracks by large dogs. 

One of the pioneer firms in the coal business was Strawbridge Brothers. They made their first shipment to Meadville in 1842, by way of the Erie Canal. 

D. C. Strawbridge was a member of the firm of Strawbridge Brothers, and on May 1, 1868, he opened what was to become the McDowell National Bank. 

The story of the trials of these pioneers in the coal business is a most interesting chapter in the history of Sharon, but space permits only brief reference to it. 

From 1835 to 1876 old histories record the development of more than fifty mines and mention well known names linked with the development of Sharon. Some of these names are: General Joel B. Curtis, D. C. Strawbridge and his brother, the Carvers, William Fruit, Major Frampton, General James Pierce (the first to meet with outstanding success), the Agnews, John Phillips (grandfather of S. M. Phillips, one of McDowell National Bank's directors), Enoch Filer (father of School Director H. J. Filer), Henry Forker (grandfather of H. P. Forker, Jr. another director of McDowell National Bank), Samuel Kimberly (father of P. L. Kimberly, whose charity fund, created by his will, built the Nurses Home and established an endowment for Buhl Hospital and the Buhl Club), Joseph Forker, James Westerman, the Dunhams, the McCleerys, the Robertses, the Wassons, the Veaches, R. S. Alley, Samuel Bell (an ancestor of H. D. Bell), Charles Meek (for whom Meek Street was probably named), the Boyces (for whom Boyce Street, now Silver Street, was named), Hon. E. A. Wheeler, Hon. M. C. Trout (who lived in the large brick house at Trout’s Corners), Jacob Hann and the Rankins. 

The Morefield Coal Bank, from which Morefield Cemetery gets its name, was opened by T. J. Porter and Henry Forker. 

The Castor Coal Bank was opened by Porter, Forker & Company and sold to Reiss, Brown & Berger of New Castle. Mr. Reiss was later vice president of rise United States Steel Corporations. Mr. Brown became Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Berger was the father of A.B. Berger, now president of the Potter Title & Trust Company of Pittsburgh. 

The coal business was still active in 1876.

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