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Chapter 7
produced a much hotter fire. From the
melted iron ore, blacksmiths made farm
tools andwagon equipment.Workers in the
factoriesmade iron rails and locomotives.
From geography, we learned that
Pennsylvania has a great amount of two
types of coal under its ground. Hard coal
was found in the northeastern part of our
state, but it was notmined until the 1820s.
Because the coal was so hard, people
thought it would not burn. Once people
discovered how to burn the coal, railroads
were built to move hard coal to
Philadelphia. Because of a crop failure in
Ireland, thousands of people moved from
that country into this region to mine the
coal. Hard coal was used for heating homes
and factories by 1860. It was also used for
producing steam to move railroads, ships,
andmachinery.
Soft coal was found in many places in
western Pennsylvania. By 1800, soft coal
had become an important industry around
Pittsburgh. It was used for heating homes
and factories. Later, soft coal became
important in the making of iron products.
Until 1840, shipping coal over the
mountains was too expensive. Instead, it
was floated down the Ohio andMississippi
Rivers for use in the river towns. By 1860,
Pennsylvania was supplying most of our
nation’s coal.
Pennsylvania was a leading state in
lumber production through most of the
1800s. Lumber was in great demand for
heating homes and for building wagons,
ships, steamboats, canal boats, homes,
and furniture.
In eastern Pennsylvania, many trees were
cleared for farms. Thewoodwas used to feed
the iron furnaces and heat homes. By 1840,
the eastern part of our statewas running out
Logs weremade into rafts so they could float downsteam to the lumber mills.
