Oakmont a wealthy river town Harmarville a blue collar working town with a coal mine and small industry.
but in 1927 it became embroiled like many other coal mines across the nation in a bitter fight to unionize coal miners. and Harmar like other mines called in the Coal & Iron Police a private commissioned Police force
that was nothing more than legalized thugs and which would eventually turn into the Pa. State police.
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| Harmar Coal Memorial near fire station |
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| Typical Coal & iron badge and officers below |
These thugs had absolute power and as the violence in nearby Russelton poured into the valley
The Coal and Iron police committed assaults and murder at will .
During the time period it was rumored that many a miner who had pushed to unionize disappeared
into the Allegheny River off the Hulton bridge wrapped in chains and dropped into the river.
Rumors of these tales went on for decades .
But then the state decided to replace the very old Hulton bridge with a new bridge and as engineers started exploring the old river basin under bridge. low and behold they started finding many lengths of chain as reported in the papers.
So it looks like the rumors where true. Even my friend Grizzly talked about the Coal & Iron Police dropping body's off the bridge as well. Of course every one is ready to poo poo the whole thing as you will find chain and every imaginable thing in the river but to find as much as they did where they did you have to wonder.
besides the story's of what went on during the strike there is also a road nearby rumored to be haunted as well called 13 bends which I will be writing about as well. and all this with in minutes of unsolved missing people and killing of a Verona Cop.
Thanks for including my film photos of Harmar Mine in this article. I took the photos when I was a graphic design student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I grew up in Harmar Twp., but I was born in Lawrenceville, when I was a young child my family lived in East Liberty and Oakland before moving out to Harmar in the early 1960's. My dad was a Korean War Vet and used money from the G.I. Bill to purchase a ranch style home in a development called Chapel Downs, we lived 2 miles up Guys Run Road from Harmar Mine. Harmarville was dominated by the Harmar Mine, it was an imposing structure that almost seemed alive. I was always fascinated by the mine, but never had any intention of working there, unlike many of my friends and classmates who lived in the company houses, it was their birthright to work the mine. Most of them were 3rd, even 4th generation miners whose fathers, uncles, grandfathers and great grandfathers worked the mine, the mine was part of their culture, it was in their DNA. Some went to work at other mines in the area too, like Harwick, Renton, Russellton and Barking. You mentioned 13 Bends. When I was a kid, we road our bikes on that road all the time and hiked the woods all around there. As a teenager we used to party back there, there was a fresh water spring back there and a coal mine ventilation shaft. When we were cruising and getting high, 13 Bends/Campbells Run Road was always our starting, Old Mill Road, Indianola Road, McCelland Road, Rich Hill Road, Lefever Road and Log Cabin Road were part of nightly ritual, that often took us out to Dorseyville, Rural Ridge, Russellton, Deer Lakes, Bairdford, Bakerstown Curtisville... It was amazing all the mile we traveled back then on mostly unpaved roads, but gas was cheap, and we had nothing else to do. It was a different time. I never encountered anything paranormal on 13 Bends, but do remember years later reading in the paper and seeing on the news that a drug dealer from East Liberty was found dead, stuffed in a 55 gallon drum on Campbells Run, he had been murdered in Oakmont of all places by a guy who owned some car lots, I guess the guy's son was involved in some drug deal and owed money. The dealer came to the house in Oakmont to collect the debt and the guy's father shot the dealer dead in the livingroom.
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