Meanings
plural coal patches
- PennsylvaniaWesternhistoricalinformalA company town built by a coal or mining company to house its workers and their families.
Mike Fedarko grew up in a coal patch, a cluster of company-owned houses and a company-run store, directly adjacent to a mine and often named after the nearest headframe or winding tower [...]
2024, Kevin Fedarko, “Chapter 3: Hell With the Lid Off”, in A Walk in the Park, page 22Synonyms: patch town
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA company town built by a coal or mining company to house its workers and their families.
Origin
The term patch is believed to derive from the German word pacht, which translates "to rent," referencing the fact that everything in the town was rented from or owned by the company.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
coal patch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coal%20patch
“coal patch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coal%20patch. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coal patch,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coal%20patch.
Source: coal patch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.