History of Huber Breaker

(supplemented with information from NorthernField.info)

1892 – Foundation begun for the great Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre wooden breaker at Ashley.  It was included with Jersey No. 8 Colliery.
1895 – Breaker completed and named the “Maxwell #20” in honor of the DL&W Company President, Roger Maxwell
1896 – The breaker had produced 240,785 tons of coal and employed 826 workers.  212,657 tons were shipped out via the railroad.  
19o3 – Shaft / Slope was opened which boosted production to 421,962 tons of coal by 729 employees.  413,874 tons were shipped out via the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ).
1907 – Colliery shut down for extensive repairs
1920 – The Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. and the Glen Alden, merge into the largest coal company in the Luzerne and Lackawanna Valley.
1928 – Glen Alden Coal Co. experiments with dying its coal “Blue”.  The Maxwell Breaker production of coal peaks at 732,111 tons of coal produced that year by 1613 employees.  
1931 – Number of employees at the Maxwell Colliery peaks at 1755 people.
1937 – Colliery employees on strike.  Maxwell #20 wooden breaker catches fire and is damaged.
1938 – New metal breaker constructed a short distance from the former site of the Maxwell #20 putting 1650 people back to work.
1939 – Breaker renamed “Huber” in honor of the Glen Alden Chairman; Charles F. Huber who attained the position at age 30.  Incidentally, C.F. Huber began his career as a mine laborer at age 15.
1940 – Coal from reopened Avondale & Sugar Notch #9 mines sent to Huber for processing.
1942 – Coal processing at the Huber Colliery peaked at 979,208 tons by 1503 workers.  839,227 tons were shipped to markets by train and 237 tons by truck.  The rest was stockpiled and sold to local markets.
1945 – Strike hits Huber.  54,629 tons of surface mined coal was prepared at Huber Colliery in addition to 701,678 tons which were produced from the underground mine by 1274 employees.
1950 – Truck Retail Coal Pockets built
1951 – New wash house erected
1959 – Glen Alden Corp. merges with List Ind.
1960 – 387,640 tons of underground mined coal was prepared at the Huber Breaker by 608 workers.  109,579 tons of surface mined coal was prepared at Harry E and Dorrance Breakers while 92,091 tons of Huber bank coal was shipped unprepared to United Gas Improvement Company.  
1966 – Glen Alden Corp was called Blue Coal Corp.  
1967 – Huber slope mine was sealed on May 9, 1967 and the shaft abandoned.  The last 240,234 tons of on-site underground mined coal was prepared at Huber Breaker.  74,873 tons of surface mined coal was prepared at Huber and Loree breakers.  The last 34,630 tons of Huber bank coal was shipped unprepared to United Gas Improvement Company.  
1968 – Huber colliery prepared 371 tons of coal from surrounding stripping operations.
1970 – The Colliery is purchased by Beltrami Enterprises as Lucky Coal Co.
1976 – Colliery closes for good.
1980 – Colliery becomes teenage hangout.
1990 – Ashley (Huber) Breaker Preservation Society is founded.
1991 – ABPS is Incorporated, Historical Architectural and Engineering Record ( HAER) Study by the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor and the National Park Service is done
2000 – Mr. Al Roman, President of No.1 Contracting Corp., Ashley, agreed to bequeath the historic Huber Breaker Colliery for the purpose of preservation and creation of the Huber Breaker Anthracite Museum and Park
2001 – Huber Breaker Preservation Society is formed
2002 – HBPS is Incorporated as a non-profit, 501(C)(3), Pennsylvania Corporation.
2004 – Earth Conservancy donates 3 acres of land, overlooking the breaker, for the development of a memorial park.
2008 – The HBPS began construction of the Huber Breaker Northern Anthracite Coal Field Miner’s Memorial Park.
2014 – No. 1 Contracting Corp. lost the Huber Colliery due to bankruptcy and the breaker was transferred to a bankruptcy holdings group.  The buildings were razed by Pasello Logistics and every scrap of metal sold (less a few items that were promised to HBPS) leaving huge craters and piles of coal waste where the proud colliery once stood.  
2016 – HBPS was awarded $100,000 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the development of Miners’ Memorial Park