In a message dated 8/22/2008 3:48:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: My passion has been the mines and railroads on the west side of the Yough. No ancestors, just a hobby like genealogy. It can be a compelling passion, just like genealogy. My cousin, Daniel Moore, was a coal miner...somewhere in Smithton or near Smithton...when he was laid off. He attended a community college nearby and wrote such compelling papers about coal mines for his history papers, he was encouraged and given scholarships, etc. and now has his Ph.D in history. Unfortunately, not American coal mines, Central American. I'm not sure where he teaches now. So he turned his coal mining experience into a life long pursuit. I'm interested in coal mining since I have many generations of miners on both my parents' sides. But it is union activities that activated my interest. My grandfather was a miner in Leadville, CO in 1880, but he went to Indian Territory (Choctaw Nation, Five Civilized Tribes) shortly after and became a union organizer. When he died, my father, then 15, was blackballed from the mines in Oklahoma and wasn't able to get steady work. He wondered around the country, trying to find a job, but finally, in about 1932, he heard about the mine in Smithdale and got a job there. He boarded with my mom's family and they married in 1934 in little Smithdale. My PA ancestors came to Westmoreland County from Franklin County PA, as did many other W'moreland pioneers, but primarily in Derry Salem and Allegheny Townships. My MOOREs were from Lebanon Co. but they were coopers. They homesteaded on Chestnut Ridge and many are still there. It wasn't until later when coal was discovered that the family turned to mining and railroading. My grandmother's family of SHOLEYs, however, were in Ligonier and they early mined, her grandfather 1880 in Sutersville. Granma was born in Derry Station or New Derry, I forget which one. I don't remember Smithdale having street names. There was just the one graveled road running parallel between the river and the railroad track (but maybe with a bit of a deviation to the right) and the one street on the other side of the railroad track with the post office and the crossing the "cat in the cradle".of the hill climbing road. I am going to spend a few hours looking at the complete Elizabeth Twp. census tomorrow. I'll look especially for Taylor. Funny, I just assumed all these years that a pioneer named Smith settled in the wide spot along the river. Google Earth has a nice map going from West Newton to different areas, but Smithdale still shows up as an X with little to remind me of the booming coal town that I remembered. Hiking along the river would be a great experience. I wish I had done more. Shirley **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)