was named the Huber Coal Breaker, in honor of the Glen Alden chairman...Charles F. Huber. Mr. Huber actually
started his career at the age of 15, working as a mine laborer. He attained his position as chairman at age 30.
Originally, the "great" Maxwell #20 coal breaker was here, constructed by the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal
Company. Sometime in 1920, the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company merged with the Glen Alden Company, and
it looks like it was under the name Glen Adlen.
This new company, after completing the new Breaker, experimented with dying thier coal blue. It did nothing
to improve the quality, it was more of gimmick. The advertisement read "Countless railroad men use "blue coal" in
thier homes. They like its clean, even, healthful heat- and the way it saves money".
The Huber Coal Breaker closed down in 1976. Since then, most of the machinery has been either vandalized or
stolen. For its time, the Huber Breaker was a "technological advancement", incorperating many features that
allowed it to continue operating long after the coal mining business had slowed. According to the people involved
with its preservation, this is the last remaining coal breaker, as well as the largest ever built of its kind. The guys
that built this structure made it to last. They used tar coated sheet metal which made the breaker able to withstand
the elements. A recent architectural test proved that this site is structurally sound and in good condition for a
restoration project.
In 1990, the Ashley (Huber) Breaker Preservation Society (ABPS) was founded. They were incorerated the
next year and had the Historical Architectural and Engineering Record Study was done by the Delaware & Lehigh
Heritage Corridor and the National Park Service. In 2000, the ABPS was able to obtain the property for
preservation and to establish a museum and park. For more information, visit www.huberbreaker.org.
Blurb from
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tecsite/Ashley/AshleyFile.html