The Birmingham Coal Company was a coal mining company in the

Pittsburgh Coalfield The Pittsburgh Coalfield (Pittsburgh Coal Region) is the largest of the Western Pennsylvania coalfields. It includes all or part of Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania. Coal has been mined in Pitts ...

area. It operated mines along

Becks Run Becks Run is a tributary of the Monongahela River. As an urban stream, it is heavily polluted, receiving combined sewer outflow from Carrick (Pittsburgh) and Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania. There is a waterfall on a tributary, just downstream from ...

, as well as other mines south of the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-c ...

, such as the Bausman Mine and the American Mine. It is named for Birmingham, Pennsylvania, a town which was later annexed to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Part of the company was the Birmingham Coal Company Railroad, a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad that ran Along 21st street. Coal was transferred underground using a tailrope system from Spiketown to the mine entrance, and from there to the railroad on a gravity plane to the railroad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham Coal Company Coal companies of the United States Mining in Pennsylvania Defunct mining companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania History of Pittsburgh Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Narrow gauge railroads in Pennsylvania 3 ft 2 in gauge railways in the United States Transportation in Pittsburgh Defunct coal mining companies