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43-642: Rivesville is a town and former coal town in Marion County , West Virginia , United States. The population was 830 at the 2020 census . Rivesville is located at 39°31′49″N 80°7′9″W  /  39.53028°N 80.11917°W  / 39.53028; -80.11917 (39.530276, -80.119063) in the heart of the Fairmont coal field on the north-west bank of the Monongahela River around its confluence with Paw Paw Creek . According to

86-640: A coal miner. In point of fact, the operators built towns because they had no alternative. The mining of coal requires miners; miners require houses. Since most mines were opened in virtually unsettled areas, there was no existing housing....Since the almost complete absence of all weather roads made it necessary for the miner to live close to his work, small villages (often called "camps") were built close to each mine. Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( / m ə ˌ n ɒ ŋ ɡ ə ˈ h iː l ə / mə- NONG -gə- HEE -lə , /- ˈ h eɪ -/ -⁠ HAY - ), sometimes referred to locally as

129-594: A fevered dream he had, while recuperating from an illness at the fort. The house still stands there in Rivesville. Now known as the Morgan-Gold House, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Rivesville was platted in 1837, and named after William Cabell Rives . In 1900, it was a very small town, population 164, growing to 190 in 1910. This was immediately before

172-723: A second mine in the area near Baxter, about a mile up Paw Paw creek. As of 1921, other mines listed as being in Rivesville included the Rivesville Coal Company's Hood Mine, the Winfield Coal Company's River Side Mine, and the Virginia & Pittsburgh Coal & Coke Co.'s Morgan mine. Coal town Usually, the coal camp, like the railroad camp and logging camps , began with temporary storage, housing and dining facilities —tents, shanties, shacks— until more permanent dwellings could be built. Often

215-458: A series of locks and dams that makes it navigable. The Unami word Monongahela means "falling banks", in reference to the geological instability of the river's banks. Moravian missionary David Zeisberger (1721–1808) gave this account of the naming: "In the Indian tongue the name of this river was Mechmenawungihilla (alternatively spelled Menawngihella ), which signifies a high bank, which

258-429: Is currently operated by Allegheny Energy . Unit 5, installed in 1944 had a power output of 48 megawatts; Unit 6, installed in 1951, was 94 megawatts. The plant used open loop cooling, drawing up to 69.8 million gallons per day of cooling water from the Monongahela River . The coal stockpile at the plant had a capacity of 50,000 tons, and coal was delivered by barge . Earlier, coal was delivered by rail . The plant

301-462: Is directly under the older portion of the town and under the riverbed. Consolidation Coal Company Mine No. 97 was in the Pittsburgh coal seam around 100 feet below the level of the riverbed. This mine operated between 1922 and 1954, with a peak production of 670408 tons per year. The coal seam itself is 6 to 8 feet thick. The number 97 Hoist Shaft was directly west of the westernmost corner of

344-433: Is ever washed out and therefore collapses." The Lenape Language Project renders the word as Mënaonkihëla (pronounced [mənaoŋɡihəla] ), translated "where banks cave in or erode", from the verbs mënaonkihële "the dirt caves off" (such as the bank of a river or creek, or in a landslide) and mënaonke (pronounced [mənaoŋɡe] ), "it has a loose bank" (where one might fall in). Monongalia County and

387-620: Is formed by the confluence of the West Fork River and its "east fork"—the Tygart Valley River —at Fairmont in north central West Virginia. From there it flows northeasterly to cross the Pennsylvania border just west of north Cheat Lake on its Cheat River tributary. Then it flows northerly across southwestern Pennsylvania, taking a bit of a detour northeast 10 miles south of Pittsburgh to approach Pittsburgh from

430-582: Is navigable its entire length with a series of locks and dams that maintain a minimum depth of 9 feet (2.7 m) to accommodate coal-laden barges. All dams are operated by the Pittsburgh District Army Corps of Engineers. In 2006, the navigation system, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , had nine dam-locks along 128.7 miles (207.1 km) of waterway. The locks overcame a change in elevation of about 147 feet (44.8 m). The locks and dam at Elizabeth will be removed by

473-599: Is of a very rugged plateau type which allows streams to gather sufficient water volume before they fall off the plateau and create challenging rapids. Some of the best known specific stream locations for this include: The Monongahela River valley was the site of a famous battle that was one of the first in the French and Indian War —the Braddock Expedition (May–July 1755). It resulted in a sharp defeat for two thousand British and Colonial forces against those of

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516-854: The Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock , the first steel works in the area, the Duquesne Works and the Jones and Laughlin steel works on the South Side of Pittsburgh. Only the Edgar Thomson works remain producing steel along the river. Despite the closure of many of the mills in the 1980s and 90s, the Monogahela is still an important waterway for industry. The Mon Valley Works of U.S. Steel operates three plants, including

559-568: The French and their Native American allies. In 1817, the Pennsylvania legislature authorized the Monongahela Navigation Company to build 16 dams with bypass locks to create a river transportation system between Pittsburgh and the area that would later become West Virginia . Originally planned to run as far south as the Cheat River , the system was extended to Fairmont, and bituminous coal from West Virginia

602-618: The Saint Lawrence River watershed. One (or more) extensive ice sheet advance dammed the old north-flowing drainage and created a vast lake—known as Lake Monongahela —stretching from an unknown point north of present-day Beaver, Pennsylvania for ~200 miles (320 km) south to Weston, West Virginia . A river-lake with many narrow bays, its maximum water surface rose to 1,100 feet (340 m) above sea level. Over 200 feet (61 m) deep in places, its southwestward overflow gradually incised old drainage divides and contributed to

645-566: The United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 0.59 square miles (1.53 km), of which 0.52 square miles (1.35 km) is land and 0.07 square miles (0.18 km) is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 934 people, 402 households, and 261 families living in the town. The population density was 1,796.2 inhabitants per square mile (693.5/km). There were 430 housing units at an average density of 826.9 per square mile (319.3/km). The racial makeup of

688-621: The Edgar Thomson plant for basic steel marking, the Irvin plant for steel finishing, and the Clairton plant for coke production. Coal barges are a common sight on the river, and the railways which line either side are heavily used by freight. Other industries include power generation, chemicals, and recycling. Three ships in the United States Navy have been named Monongahela after the river. In October 1930, severe drought caused

731-805: The Fairmont-Clarksburg Division of the Monongahela-West Pen Railways, originally the Monongahela Power and Railway Company. This electric interurban line ran from Fairmont through Rivesville to the Rivesville Power Station, just north of town. The Rivesville Elementary/Middle school, formerly Rivesville High School, is administered by the Marion County Schools. It has 37 teachers and has been affiliated with

774-667: The Mon ( / m ɒ n / ), is a 130-mile-long (210 km) river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania . The river flows from the confluence of its west and east forks in north-central West Virginia northeasterly into southwestern Pennsylvania, then northerly to Pittsburgh and its confluence with the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River . The river includes

817-829: The Ohio River. It falls 280 feet from its forks to its mouth, a stretch made navigable by locks. The mean depth is about 20 ft. In southwestern Pennsylvania, the Monongahela is met by two major tributaries : the Cheat River , which joins at Point Marion , and the Youghiogheny River , which joins at McKeesport . Major tributaries include: Becks Run , Big Sandy Creek , Buffalo Creek , Cheat River , Crooked Run , Deckers Creek , Dunkard Creek , Lick Run , Middle Fork River , Paw Paw Creek , Peters Creek , Streets Run , Turtle Creek , Tygart Valley River , West Fork River , Youghiogheny River . The river

860-692: The Pittsburgh seam. Mines in the Sewickley seam were opened earlier and mined out earlier than the mines in the Pittsburgh Seam. In 1913, the Monongahela Valley Traction Company had a mine in the even shallower Waynesburg coal seam about a mile southwest of Rivesville near Dakota. This coal seam was about 5 feet thick, including an intermediate shale bed one foot thick. By 1921, Monongahela Traction had opened

903-485: The Power Plant, with the hoisting engines to the north across the tracks. Consol. Mine No. 24 was directly across the river, with its shaft in the company town of Montana Mines, and in 1943, plans were filed to connect these mines with an under-river crossing. In 1934, Consol. No. 97 employed 412 men, all of whom were UMWA members. The daily wage ranged from $ 6.37 for loaders to $ 9.29 for cutters. Other mines in

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946-572: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Work will commence in 2024. Afterwards 30 miles of the river between Charleroi and Braddock will be free flowing. According to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory for 2010, the Monongahela ranked as the 17th most polluted river in the nation. The primary polluters were Pennsylvania iron and steel mills. The upper drainage area of the river basin is renowned for its water sports/hobbies of whitewater kayaking (and in some cases whitewater rafting ) opportunities. The land here

989-510: The West Virginia University Benedum Collaborative as a Professional Development School since 1997. Tyson Furgason is currently principal. Based on 2007 test scores, the school ranked close to average for the state of West Virginia. In 2007, the school enrolled 338 students between kindergarten and grade 8. The Rivesville Power Plant was built by Monongahela Power and Railway Company in 1919 and

1032-421: The age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.80. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.1% under

1075-460: The age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $ 25,700, and the median income for a family was $ 35,417. Males had a median income of $ 26,875 versus $ 19,063 for females. The per capita income for

1118-511: The area exploited the shallower Sewickley Coal Seam, largely above the river level to the north and east. Between 1901 and 1913, for example, the Parker Run Coal and Coke Company operated a mine just east of Rivesville, shipping coal by rail and barge. In 1910, this mine employed 60 miners. In 1913, it employed 10 laborers and 25 miners to take 500 tons of coal a day. The coal in this seam was over 6 feet thick, but higher in sulfur than

1161-571: The dam-lock combinations were increased in size and reduced in number. Briefly linked to the Monongahela Navigation was the Youghiogheny Navigation, a slack water system of 18.5 miles (29.8 km) between McKeesport and West Newton . It had two dam-locks overcoming a change in elevation of about 27 feet (8.2 m). Opening in 1850, it was destroyed by a flood in 1865. During the 19th century and well into

1204-639: The development of large-scale coal mining in the area and the subsequent population growth. In the early 20th century, Rivesville was at the junction between the Pawpaw branch of the B&;O Railroad and the Buckhannon & Northern Railroad, a branch of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie a predecessor that was incorporated into the Monongahela Railway formed in 1915. Rivesville was also served by

1247-423: The first structures to be built were log cabin storehouses, followed by kitchens, a lumber mill and smithies, management offices, and housing. Gradually, within a year or so, the camp would be developed as a community with a variety of housing types, including boardinghouses for transients and new hires. Typically the community was organized around a Company Store . The company would often give credit to workers in

1290-424: The form of scrip , a form of token money that would discourage workers from purchasing items in stores outside the town. For the wives and families who joined the miners in such a community, the company store was perhaps "the most essential structure in the town...". The coal operator would normally divest unprofitable lands as soon as possible, rather than paying land taxes. It recouped some capital by sub-dividing

1333-599: The geological development of the present-day upper Ohio River Valley . Via the Ohio River, the river is part of the Mississippi watershed which drains to the Gulf of Mexico on the Atlantic Ocean. The river's length is 130 miles, its drainage basin is 7,340 sq.mi. and the average 30-year discharge at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, is 9,109 cfs. It falls 3,831 ft. in elevation from its highest source to its mouth on

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1376-480: The river flow to drop below 10 cu ft/s (280 L/s), and in some places, it was possible to walk across the river bottom. The river was the site of a famous airplane crash that has become the subject of urban legends and conspiracy theories . Early on the morning of January 31, 1956, a B-25 bomber en route from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to Olmsted Air Force Base in Pennsylvania crashed into

1419-531: The river near the Glenwood Bridge in Homestead, Pennsylvania . The six crewmen survived the initial crash, but two of them succumbed in the cold water and drowned. Despite the relatively shallow water, the aircraft was never recovered and became known as the "ghost bomber". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a graphical representation of the flight path and flight details in 1999. As of 2018,

1462-659: The southeast and its confluence with the Allegheny River to form the Forks of the Ohio at "The Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh . Prior to early Pleistocene regional glaciation, more than 780,000 years ago, the ancestral Monongahela River (a.k.a. the Pittsburgh River) flowed northward from present-day north-central West Virginia, across western Pennsylvania and northwestern Ohio, and into

1505-532: The town of Monongah , both in West Virginia, are named for the river, as is the city of Monongahela in Pennsylvania. (The name "Monongalia" is either a Latinized adaptation of "Monongahela" or simply a variant spelling.) The USGS name for the river is the Monongahela River; there have been numerous alternate names, alternate spellings and misspellings in historical texts. The Monongahela

1548-480: The town was $ 14,085. About 16.4% of families and 19.9% of the population were below the poverty line , including 32.9% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over. The area was populated by some of the earliest settlers to the area, with the safety of Prickett's Fort sitting directly across the Monongahela River . David Morgan (frontiersman) moved there in 1772. That's also the location where he saved his family from an attack by Indians in 1778, based on

1591-537: The town was 98.7% White , 0.6% African American , 0.5% Native American , and 0.1% from other races . Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.3% of the population. There were 402 households, of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.1% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who

1634-456: The town. The population density was 1,602.5 inhabitants per square mile (618.4/km). There were 450 housing units at an average density of 789.8 per square mile (304.8/km). The racial makeup of the town was 98.80% White , 0.11% African American , 0.11% Native American , 0.33% Asian , and 0.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.55% of the population. There were 400 households, out of which 24.8% had children under

1677-408: The tract and selling lots and eventually the housing it had built. Structures such as churches and schools were built as the community grew. The employer might donate funds to aid these, but typically they were financed by residents of the community. Given the typically remote locations of mines and the absence of any travel infrastructure serving the mines, 'coal camps' often became a part of being

1720-556: The twentieth, the Monongahela was heavily used by industry , and several U.S. Steel plants, including the Homestead Works, site of the Homestead Strike of 1892, were built along its banks. Following the killing of several workers in the course of the strike, anarchist Emma Goldman wrote: "Words had lost their meaning in the face of the innocent blood spilled on the banks of the Monongahela." Other mills included

1763-484: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.83. The median age in the town was 42.1 years. 21.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.3% were from 25 to 44; 30.1% were from 45 to 64; and 16.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 46.6% male and 53.4% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 913 people, 400 households, and 268 families living in

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1806-428: Was connected to the grid by 138Kv transmission lines. In the mid 1970s, this was the first commercial power plant to use fluidized bed combustion to fire its boilers. As of 2007, this power plant employed 33 people. New environmental regulations forced the company to shut down the plant in 2012, along with two others elsewhere in the state. About the only area around Rivesville where the coal has not been mined out

1849-556: Was the chief product transported downstream. After a canal tunnel through Grant's Hill in Pittsburgh was completed in 1832, boats could travel between the Monongahela River and the Western Division Canal of Pennsylvania's principal east–west canal and railroad system, the Main Line of Public Works . In 1897, the federal government took possession of the Monongahela Navigation through condemnation proceedings. Later,

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