Heating with Coal in Pennsylvania

During World War II, many Pennsylvanian’s heated their homes with coal.  Coal was (and in some counties still is) a major natural resource in our state.  After the war, natural gas became the first choice of most Pennsylvanians for heating.  In my hometown, where gas was not available, most homes turned to oil.  When my father retired and moved back to our hometown, he bought a furnace which could heat with either oil or coal. 

        

In 1973, the United States had its first fuel crisis.  Because of our involvement with Israel, the Gulf States refused to ship oil.  The price of heating with oil rose from 5 cents a gallon to over 1 dollar.  My father began heating with coal.  He did this until he died.  When my parents went away, they switched the heating to oil. 

          

Do people in Pennsylvania still heat their homes with coal?  There are a surprising number who still do.  The Pennsylvania Data Center’s Map-of-the-Month is
“Coal as the Primary Heating Source, Pennsylvania Counties: 2007-2011” - online at:

http://pasdc.hbg.psu.edu/sdc/pasdc_files/mapsofthemonth/CoalHeat_PaCounties_07-11.pdf

Take a look, my home county is one of those in black.