Philip G. Cochran Memorial United Methodist Episcopal Church

When we think about mining boomtowns in U.S. history, our minds travel westward to the gold, silver and copper towns that popped up—and sometimes disappeared just as quickly—in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Colorado. But there were plenty of small towns in the northeast whose fortunes came and went over the course of two or three decades, though they did not fully disappear. [1] In Dawson, those fortunes depended on the rich bituminous coal seam running for miles below the ground of Southwestern Pennsylvania; enterprises like the Washington Coal and Coke Company mined the coal and then burned it to make coke—a potent fuel source needed to smelt iron, the base metal of steel. [2] The Washington Coal and Coke Company was founded in 1893 by several members of the Cochran family, whose history in the area's coke industry stretched back 50 years. The Cochrans lived in Dawson, and with their wealth they built several grand buildings, including the Philip G. Cochran Memorial United Methodist Church. Its limestone walls, steeply pitched roof, pointed arch windows and 100-foot-tall spire stand out in Dawson, where late Gothic Revival architecture is not the norm. [3]

Sarah B. Cochran (1857–1936) built the church to honor her late husband, Philip. Sarah Boyd Moore was a domestic servant in the home of James Cochran, Philip’s father. [4] Philip began working for his father's various coal, coke and banking enterprises in the 1870s and married Sarah in September 1879 despite her working-class background. [5] When Philip died in 1899 at age 50, Sarah oversaw the family’s business interests while she waited for their son, James Philip, to finish his schooling at the University of Pennsylvania. According to her obituary, "After his death she was elected to the boards of directors of the Washington Coal & Coke Company, Washington Run Railroad Company and the Star Supply Company …. She also succeeded her husband as a director of the First National Bank of Dawson, holding it at the time of her death.” [6] Upon turning 21, James Philip was to inherit two-thirds of his father’s estate, which was worth over a half million dollars. (To put this in perspective, imagine being handed a check for between $10 million and $15 million on your 21st birthday). [7] Sarah was devastated when, just two years after losing her husband, her son died of pneumonia. She departed for Europe and Asia and traveled abroad for a few years. [8]

When Sarah returned to Western Pennsylvania she began building Linden Hall, a 31-room Tudor Revival mansion, on her estate 3 miles from Dawson. [9] She often hosted gatherings and parties at this sumptuous residence, including meetings of Methodist Episcopal bishops and supporters of women’s suffrage. In 1915, 600 people gathered at Linden Hall to hear a presentation by Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, the president of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association, who told the assembled crowd: “The question of the ballot must be settled one way or the other this fall.” (It would not be settled for five more years. The 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920). [10]