BYRNESVILLE
PAGE 3
LISTEN TO THE
MUSIC
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE
VILLAGE
(AND SOME
PICTURES OF FORMER RESIDENTS)
This page made by Mike Reilley
MPREIL@AOL.COM
Byrnesville history:
The village of Byrnesville no longer exists.
It began in 1856 and was
completely dismantled by 1996.
Byrnesville was a small village located in
Central Pennsylvania. It
was divided into two parts, Upper and Lower Byrnesville. The
first homes were built in Lower Byrnesville
around 1856 and in Upper Byrnesville around 1865.
The homes were built to house employees of a
nearby coal company. Byrnesville was located in the Anthracite coal
region of Pennsylvania and coal mining and
processing was its main industry. The population over the years varied as the coal
mines had good and bad times. The majority of the
people who first settled there were mostly Irish immigrants. Through the
years the village was inhabited mostly by Irish
Catholics. They attended St. Ignatius Church in nearby Centralia. An
elementary school was located in early Byrnesville but
was discontinued in the
early 1930s. After that the children attended Conyngham
Township schools and St. Ignatius Catholic
school in Centralia.
Byrnesville was named after the Byrnes
family who were the first settlers. Small grocery stores were operated by the
Reilley, Byrnes and Gaughan families. A barroom was
owned by another Gaughan family. Most of the shopping was done at nearby
larger towns of Mount Carmel and Ashland.
Byrnesville was part of and was governed by
Conyngham township and Columbia County. After World
War 2 ended, the coal mining industry started to decline and many of the
younger people moved to other areas to find work.
In the 1960s a fire ignited a coal seam near
Centralia and it continued to burn underground and spread to adjoining
areas. A federal government project relocated
families out of Byrnesville in
the 1980s because of the smoke and fumes from the underground mine fire. The population of Byrnesville just
before the exodus from the fire was approximately
75 people living in 29 homes. The last family moved in 1996 and the final
house was torn down at that time. The only remaining
structures there now are
a religious shrine on a hillside, a storage trailer, and an
unused garage. Because the fire destroyed a
part of nearby Route 61, it is now rerouted through the former village of
Byrnesville. (Historical information
submitted by Mike Reilley)
View of Byrnesville, looking
south
View of Byrnesville today,the people have
moved away,the buildings are all torn
down.
The shrine on the hillside overlooking
Byrnesville
HONOR ROLL BOARD ERECTED IN THE EARLY
40's TO HONOR THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE
ARMED FORCES. IT WAS LATER REPLACED BY
THE SHRINE
LOCAL RESIDENTS PRAYING AT THE
SHRINE
Jim Reilley, a former resident of
Byrnesville , sits with his models of "COAL HOLES" or
"BOOTLEG MINES as
they were known. They were many of them in and around
Byrnesville in the 1930's and 1940's. These
mines were dug by miners that were out of work and needed money to live.
See a closeup of the models at
the left.
Remember when merchants in trucks
supplied the village with mechandise and services?
Some of those that I can recall:
Raudenbush bakery, Umlauf bakery,
Lettermans bakery, Raudenbush ice cream
Snyders ice cream, Oscar Stevens, general
merchandise , Bert Kehler, meats and fish
Yeager , farm products, McDonnells Dairy,
Greens Dairy, Coal delivey
Ice delivery (for the ice boxes),
Junkmen, that bought iron copper etc.
Blackie, the shoe repairman, Beer
and soft drink delivery
Come to think of it we had it pretty
good, all those services brought right to our
door!
History of Byrnesville
Pages
index.html
( Remembering Byrnesville )
page1.html
( Byrnesville plot plans )
page2.html
( Byrnesville recreation
)
page3.html
( Byrnesville memories )
http://
hometown.aol.com/mpreil/page5.html
(Byrnesville's Demolition)
DanWalsh.html
( Singing Miner )
NEW
GUESTBOOK
View My Guestbook
Sign My Guestbook
NICKNAMES OF PLACES IN
AND AROUND
BYRNESVILLE
Big diamond
Gun club
Little diamond
Uppers
7 Steps
Lowers
Far gardens
Pit
Block road
Truck road
Reps
The
tipple
Bamboo tree
Slips shack
The level
Pipeline
Tank
The level
Jakes banks
Billy hill
Washouse
The blue bell field