Editing Boswell, Pennsylvania (section)

== History ==
[[Image:Boswell-Jenner Twp.-Jennerstown05-12-1939.jpg|thumb|right|Aerial view of Boswell and vicinity, May 12, 1939. Photograph was taken six weeks after the mine closed permanently. Note the coal tipple just outside the town, which was dismantled in 1940.]]

Boswell was settled in 1901 and incorporated as a borough on February 22, 1904. The community's founder was Thomas Taylor Boswell, the first president and supervisor of the Merchants Coal Company. Mr. Boswell's company purchased {{convert|14,000|acre|km2}} of mineral rights under local farmland and laid out 1,600 lots for coal company houses to house the miners for its new deep [[Coal mining|coal mine]] just to the north. Merchants Coal, and the related Orenda Coal, were subsidiaries of Hillman Coal and Coke Company of Pittsburgh, the same firm that built the neighboring town of [[Jerome, Pennsylvania]].<ref>Hillman Coal and Coke Company, Annual Report to Its Stockholders, 1921, p. 8.  In Yale University Library.</ref>

[[File:GENERAL VIEW OF MAIN (SOUTH) FACADE OF CHURCH, LOOKING NORTH (For a brief history of Boswell and a description of Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church see HABS PA,56-BOSW,1-1.tif|thumb|left|250px|Houses and a church on Quemahoning Street]]

Merchants Coal attempted to build Boswell to be a notch above surrounding coal company towns in that plans included a central business district, a [[High school (North America)|high school]], and homes constructed from brick, as opposed to the wood used elsewhere. This also helped to prevent the spread of fire, in the event that one would break out. Many of the original brick homes are still standing, with much of their original integrity. A branch of the [[Baltimore & Ohio]] railroad served Boswell and its coal mine.  At its economic peak shortly after [[World War II]], Boswell boasted two movie theatres, three department stores, a bank, several jewelry stores, a druggist, two funeral homes, three grocery stores, nearly a dozen restaurants and taverns, a lumber yard, and a weekly newspaper. Earlier, pre-Prohibition, Boswell also housed its own brewery.

Boswell's streets generally run perpendicular to its avenues, in a grid.  Many of the avenues in Boswell are named after coal company officials. For example:
* Hower Avenue, after Charles E. Hower, a Surveyor from Johnstown.
* Morris Avenue, after W.H. Morris, a known builder from Johnstown
* Atkinson Way, after W.G. Atkinson, the Vice President of Merchants Coal Company.
At the same time, the borough's street names can provide a geography lesson, following the flow of water from Boswell to the seas, with two exceptions made for streets in the central business district.  Street names from north to south are:  Quemahoning, Stonycreek, Center (in place of "Conemaugh" for the Conemaugh River), Main (in place of "Kiskiminetas" for the Kiskiminetas River), Allegheny, Ohio, Mississippi, Mexico (for the [[Gulf of Mexico]]), Atlantic and Pacific.

The mine, Orenda Mine #1, extracted high quality, semi-[[bituminous coal]]. A [[steam engine]] hoisted the coal to the surface. The hoist pulled the coal cars up a [[coal tipple]] that was {{convert|1080|ft|m}} long, {{convert|92|ft|m}} high, and {{convert|60|ft|m}} wide. In 1920, this was the largest coal tipple in the world. At its prime, 900 men were employed and over 3,000 tons of coal were mined daily. The company was eventually renamed to the United Coal Company and in 1918 it became the Davis Coal Company.

For most of its history, the mine at Boswell operated without [[trade union|union]] representation.  An early attempt to unionize workers led to an armed riot on January 17, 1904. Seven were wounded and 20 arrested in the melee.<ref>Cassady, John. 1932. ''The Outline of Somerset County.'' Scottsdale, Pa.: Mennonite Publishing House. p. 49.</ref>  A prolonged struggle for unionization, which began at [[Jerome, Pennsylvania|Jerome]] and Windber in northern Somerset County in early April, 1922, extended to Boswell on April 17.<ref>"Boswell Miners Walk Out; Union Activity in Somerset Is Extending." Johnstown Tribune. April 18, 1922, p.1.</ref> By April 24, 1922, miners at Acosta, Gray, Ralphton, Randolph and Jenners also joined the strike,<ref>Blankenhorn, Heber. 1924. ''The Strike for Union.'' New York: H.W. Wilson. pp. 17-28.</ref> which was to last sixteen months. (For a more detailed discussion of the strike, see the wiki for [[Jerome, Pennsylvania]].)

{{Panorama
| image = File:Boswell Pennsylvania Coal Mine Panoramic.jpg
| fullwidth = 3419
| fullheight = 725
| caption = A view of Boswell's mining operation in its prime:  The coal tipple can be seen crossing the left side of the photograph. Near the center-left is the steam engine that pulled the cars on the tipple. In the center is the power plant with its three smokestacks. The railroad tracks that ran through town can be seen in the center of the photograph.  The foreman's home is seen on the far right of the panorama. 
| height = 250
}}