Coal and Iron Police , The Pinkerton's, and Baldwin Felts Detectives where they Villains , Heels and Dupes in the Labor Movement? or Heroes in protecting Capitalism and the American way of life ?.

 When you look at social media posts about history and anything involving  Coal and Iron inevitably  the words Coal and Iron Police , Pinkerton's and Baldwin Felts detective Agency come up in the reply s everyone s quick to say they have a relative who was a coal miner or steel worker but no one ever proudly says they had a relative who worked for Baldwin Felts  The Pinkerton or where an Coal and Iron Policeman .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_and_Iron_Police

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin%E2%80%93Felts_Detective_Agency

 https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=pinkertons

 

But when you look back at the American Labor Movement what you see is a long trail of Crime and Violence on Both sides Labor and Management.

Baldwin Detectives

Coal and Iron Police

But management always gets the bad rap when in fact it was  Labor itself brought about the development of organizations like the Coal And Iron Police, The Pinkerton's and The Baldwin Felts Detective Agency

The Problem: Some business owners are real pieces of shit and treat Employees like they are slaves.
Employer sets rules and regulations and cheap wages  cares less about safety.


 Labor thinks it does not have to follow rules and can do what ever it wants for the laborer and does thru intimidation and threats  to the business owner because everyone is against them including local government .In fact some unions like the Teamsters allowed organized crime into their organizations to point the mob now controls most construction in NYC .

  Management  then takes up the position correctly they have the right to protect their personnel property and this is where the problems start because neither wants to sit at the table and resolve the issues.

It plays out to this day rarely do you ever see a peaceful strike where no one or thing gets hurt.

Windows get broken, cars damaged etc etc. particularly any time its Coal, Steel Workers Involved. 

In the Anthracite Coal Region you had the Mollie Maguires  who caused chaos thru out the region. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Maguires

So both sides where both wrong in what they where doing.

So the coal and iron owners started security forces or hired them to protect their property's and these 

security forces soon turned into small army's taking liberties with the towns citizens and often doing things with out the owners  knowledge or consent.  But in some cases owners did not want to know. 

Despite their sometimes harsh tactics they kept properties from being destroyed and when the strike was over miners and iron workers had a place to go back to work. not always under favorable conditions. 

I worked as an unarmed guard  for Burns International Detective Agency  and for CPP Security  California Plant Protection  and on 2 different occasions strikes developed where i was working.

When I was with Burns a nationwide Union Truckers Strike happened and of course I was watching 

a non union trucking company's terminal. LTL lyons Transportation Lines  which called all their drivers in and shut their terminal down during the strike they did not want their drivers hurt and in fact aa independent driver for a company was shot and killed by a sniper who was never caught .

Teamsters  put tire jacks on roads and hung pieces of wood low under bridge under passes to hurt drivers who stayed on the road. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/12/18/bloody-trucking-strike/32f926ba-3d54-4fca-8309-4d32df824e59/

I was walking the perimeter of our terminal when an independent driver pulled down the road and was stopped by picketers.I Immediately called the police. They arrived and  he agreed to pull over and parked his rig at LTL terminal  till strike was over. 

The strikers had already been warned once by Mckeesrocks police to not cause problems and where cool headed how they handed this driver who did not know there was a strike. 

LTL is no longer in business sat empty for over a decade and now Dayton Trucking occupy it. 

 

I was then working for CPP Security when Affordable Furniture plant went on strike in West Mifflin where the Target  store sits today.

The workers where peaceful but some threats where made  but right away they hire this company called Task Force owned by son of then current Green Tree Police chief .

They come loaded for bear with guns and K9 .

Luckily the strike was quickly settled and there was no problems . Task Force is no longer in business .

and Affordable Furniture was bought out in the late 80s. 

The one thing I learned about labor strikes ? NO ON WINS .

Your better off walking away and find a better job at a better company.

 

Horrific and Gory Incident that killed 13 Middle Eastern Men during a Coal Strike Near Portage pa.

  Thirteen (13)  Innocent Middle Eastern Men  enjoying them selves and partying  with merriment along side some railroad tracks near a coal mine which was being caught in a labor strike would suddenly and violently loose their lives in a most horrific an gory way as they where part of a group of  20 Men who would become Pawns in a complicated game of chess between striking miners and mine owners. As men of Middle Eastern Descent where brought in as strike breakers  to work the mines when other nationalities would not. 

On July 6 1906

A wooden railroad car full of coal weighing thousands of pounds  would have its brakes released by unknown individuals possibly striking workers  from Martin Branch   of the Putnam  Coal Mine near Portage in Cambria County. With the brakes released the car slowly started down and then quickly picked up speed as it went down the inclined tracks toward the 20 men described as Arabians. 

As the car neared the curve it left the tracks and mowed down and ground up the men  so severely some where unidentifiable and where picked up and taken to the local undertake by shovel and wheelbarrow. 

13 men in all wold be brought to the undertaker most under 21 years of age and who wrapped them in blankets  and they where buried in a mass unmarked grave nearby. in the northeast corner of 

Prospect Cemetery with out caskets there lives of little value to the mine owners .

Several days later two  Bulgarian  Brothers who where on strike at the mine where charged with releasing the car but it is unclear if they where convicted. 

This crime like so many back in those days went unpunished. For all the wrong and cruelty mine owners where accused of  including using the Iron and Coal police to control towns . The Coalminers themselves where just as guilty of viscoius and thoughtless crimes againts each other and the mines owners. 

Many of these incidents never to be solved to this day. 

The strange Entryway to a section of Pa Route 8 in Venango County

 While driving up to see a friend in Erie County via Pa Route 8 you would pass a rather strange and elaborate stone  entry way which looked like it at one time may have been an entrance to a former Trolley or Amusement Park it had an elaborate water fountain as well. 

But this was not the case and sadly over the years the elaborate stone work  back ground disappeared and road slightly realigned . Sadly all that's left now is a  white painted concrete arch that says McKinney Road .If you ever traveled thru here prior to rebuild in 90s you probably wondered the same thing as well  .

 

 

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So what was the archway commemorating  it is in fact  a  marker to honor the Prominent McKinney Oil  Family which helped to build the original section of modern road  from Cherry Tree Twp to Titusville Pa.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=138334

Excerpt from Titusville Herald

Mr. McKinney is known for making the largest individual contribution that was ever received by the Pennsylvania Highway Department. In 1924, he and his family provided the funds to improve Route 205, now Route 8 south.  An arch was constructed at the bottom of Cherrytree Hill, with the name of the thoroughfare, McKinney Road. A water fountain once stood at the location, as well.

The road was completed in November 1924, with a formal opening on Nov. 25, the 80th birthday of Mr. McKinney.  He passed away days later, on Dec. 7, 1924.

So there you go not an entrance to a long forgotten park but a loving tribute to a family which was a major benefactor to Titusville 

I hope to one day find pictures of the original memorial setup and will update this article when I do 

Cherrytree Twp has an interesting history as well  right where this marker is located once had its own phone company the operations office was across from the marker  which is now a storage facility after it was absorbed by GTE  which is now Verizon.