Clearfield Coalfield

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Clearfield Coalfields of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA included rich seams of bituminous coal found in most parts of Clearfield County. A notable exception is the northern part of the county. With the entrance of the Pennsylvania Railroad's extension from Tyrone, generally northwest to Philipsburg and Clearfield much of this area was opened to coal shipments. Later the New York Central built their Beech Creek Extension from Jersey Shore up Beech Creek and entered Clearfield from the northeast. This line bypassed Clearfield and extended south to Mahaffey and eventually into Indiana County. Other rail lines included the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad's extension down Anderson Creek to Clearfield, NYC's extension to Clearfield and down the Susquehanna River to Keating, and the Belle's Gap Railroad which ran through the southern part of the county through Mahaffey.

Each railroad opened numerous coal company towns such as Surveyor, Croft, Karthus and Bald Hill on NYC's Susquehanna River line. Numerous other towns were built such as Gaazam, Glen Richey, Peale, Winburne (Summerville), Hawk Run, Morrisdale and Irvona. The active mining of these fields has been greatly reduced since the 1970s. While some strip mined coal still is mined for the power plant at Shawville there are no active deep mines in Clearfield County as of 2007.