Darragh is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States. Originally a

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...

, the community is located along

Pennsylvania Route 136 Pennsylvania Route 136 (PA 136) is a state highway located in Washington, Allegheny, and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at US 40 and PA 18 in Washington. The eastern terminus is at US 30 in Greensburg. PA&nbs ...

west of Arona. Darragh has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

with ZIP code 15625, which opened on July 21, 1892.

History

The Madison Coal Gas Company of Greensburg, Pennsylvania established Darragh in 1890 to support the nearby Madison coal mine. Darragh eventually became the center of operations for the Keystone Coal and Coke Company's operations in the area of Little Sewickley Creek. These included the Madison, Arona, Sewickley and Keystone Shaft mines, which employed about 1,000 people. Darragh's population peaked near the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when the four Keystone mines reached their highest production levels. By 1925, the Madison, Arona and Sewickley mines had ceased operations. The Keystone Shaft mine closed in the mid-1930s. By 1938, Keystone Coal and Coke had withdrawn from Darragh.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania