The Saint Nicholas Coal Breaker, .. what remains.
Located on Route 54 between Mahanoy City and Shenandoah PA.
The breaker was once the largest of its kind, being the size of a city block and capable of processing 12,500 tons of coal per day. It has been described as having a “hulking, asymmetrical facade.”
The St. Nicholas Breaker was constructed using 3,800 cubic yards of steel and 10,000 cubic yards of concrete. It contained 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of conveyor lines, 20 miles (32 km) of pipes, 25 miles (40 km) of conduits, 118 miles (190 km) of wire, and 26,241 square feet (2,437.9 m2) of rubber belting. The construction required half of the village of Suffolk to be relocated.
The St. Nicholas Breaker was described as sounding “like thunder” during operation. More recently, Kurt Zwikl, the executive director of the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, described the breaker as “fantastically unique building”, but in “bad shape.” It was divided into two sections that were capable of operating independently. Coal took 12 minutes to be processed by the breaker.
The St. Nicholas Breaker first became operational on March 11, 1931. It’s supposed to be torn down but nothing is going on these days.
Mahanoy City store 1899
Mahanoy City went from 15,000 people in 1931 to 4,000 today.
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