PARK AND CEMETERY. 
81 
CEMETERY MINES COAL BENEATH ITS GROUNDS 
West Pittston Cemetery , West 
Pittston, Pa., has the unique distinc- 
tion of being located over a coal mine, 
and is planning to mine and sell the ' 
coal and use the funds for maintain- 
ing the grounds. An agreement with 
the lot holders provides that: 
"The fund realised for the coal 
mined and removed from their lots 
shall be held in trust by the trustees 
of the Cemetery perpetually, and in- 
vested in such manner as shall be ap- 
proved by the Court of Common Pleas 
of Luzerne County. The income of 
this fund derived from the coal in 
and under the lots, shall be used for 
the care and maintenance of these lots, 
perpetually, and the surplus income, 
if there be any. shall be used for the 
improvement of the cemetery. 
The Cemetery includes ten acres 
and was laid out in 1856. The two 
main drives are 60 feet wide and the 
other drives 20 feet wide, with every 
MAIN DRIVE IN WEST PITTSTON CEMETERY, PITTSTON. PA. 
cem.etery. Sunday funerals are not al- 
lowed except in case of contagious 
diseases, or coming from great dis- 
tance. 
In the old part of the grounds there 
GENERAL VIEW OF NEWER PART OF WEST PITTSTON CEMETERY. 
lot facing a road. The roads are 
graded with about six inches of red 
ashes which make them like macadam. 
The ashes cover 12 feet of the width 
with sod border on each side. No 
fences or hedges are allowed, and all 
planting is done by the association. 
The management is vested in a 
Board of Managers elected by the lot 
owners. There is a perpetual care 
fund of about $3,000 at present. The 
tract is largely level ground in a val- 
ley between the mountains and bor- 
ders the Susquehanna river, with nat- 
ural trees lining the banks as it passes 
through the Historical Wyoming Val- 
ley. All the main drives are lined on 
both sides with elm, maple and poplar 
trees, many of them over 50 years old. 
The water system is furnished by 
hydrants at different parts of the 
are only 17 lots left unsold and only 
5 out of almost 600 lots are under 
“perpetual care.” About one-third of 
the lots belong to owners that cannot 
be located. 
The two veins of coal to be 
removed are respectively 300 feet and 
450 feet from the surface. The in- 
tention is to take out only two-thirds 
of the coal from each vein leaving 
one-third to form pillars'. After the 
coal is removed the coal company 
agrees to flush all the openings with 
the refuse or coal dirt so that it will 
be safe. The money received from 
the coal will make a fund that will be 
put at interest, subject to the approval 
of Luzerne County Court, and the 
principal will be used only for invest- 
ment. Each lot owner that has not 
refused to sign the agreement for the 
coal to be removed will get a receipt 
in full for perpetual care of his lot 
for all time. The management is up- 
to-date and is trying to keep in touch 
with all improvements. The coal 
fund is expected to net about $40,000 
or $50,000. 
F. H. Brenton is president of the 
association and Robert Gilchrist su- 
perintendent. 
A CORNER IN WEST PITTSTON CEMETERY, PITTSTON. PA. 
