The St. Nicholas Breaker was located just out side of Mahanoy City, constructed in 1931 and began operating in 1932. Half of the village of Suffolk was relocated in order to create room for the largest coal breaker in the world. 20 miles of railroad track were laid, 3,800 tons of steel and more than 10,000 cubic yards of concrete were used. A mile and a half of conveyor lines, 25 miles of conduit, 26,241 square feet of rubber belting, 118 miles of wire and cable and 20 miles of pipe were installed. When they constructed the breaker, they split it into two sides and each side could be operated independently, producing 12,500 tons of coal a day. The coal, once dumped, took just 12 minutes to pass through the entire breaker.
Historic photos of the St Nick from the Eric Bella collection.
Our photos from the early 2000s and 2017 during demolition.
Our video of the final piece of the breaker being imploded.
Photos of the site in 2022.
