It’s likely the most iconic film scene ever made about Pennsylvania’s Coal Region.
In the light of an early morning, James McKenna (really a Pinkerton Detective named James McParland) steps from the porch of a boardinghouse and begins his walk through a coal-dust shrouded village to work at the town’s anthracite coal mine.
McKenna/McParland, played by Irish actor Richard Harris, steps alongside hundreds of other men and boys all headed for 12 hours of brutally hard work below ground or in the colliery’s breaker.
While perhaps not the greatest film ever made, the 1970 film The Molly Maguires, does several things very, very well.
It captures the grittiness and the hopelessness faced by the working class in the anthracite coal fields in the 1870s. The film portrays a period in the wake of a failed strike by the Workingmen’s Benevolent Association that left the union crushed and the workers’ without recourse to make their lives better.
Director Martin Ritt and cinematographer James Wong Howe also managed to bring to life a bustling, manic, noisy industry that existed in the Coal Region a century before the film was made.
They show the landscape of utter devastation and the ant-hill like activity around an anthracite colliery. They fill the viewers’ ears with the smashing, grinding noise of the breaker, the dripping of water in the mines, and the soft sounds of night when the colliery ceases operations.
The film’s centerpiece and setting is the preserved village of Eckley, Pennsylvania – a company town from the 1850s that remains little changed from its 19th century appearance. Visitors today can experience the village, discover the history and culture of mining towns like Eckley, and explore how the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania shaped America’s Industrial Revolution.
After the movie premiered, Pennsylvania stepped in to preserve the village and the site was taken over by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museums Commission.
I first visited Eckley as a teenager with my family. The local history bug had bitten hard, I’d seen the film, and wanted to make the trek to Eckley to see the village for myself.
In early 2025, I returned, bringing my brother and friends Codie Eash and Rich Condon along as well.
We made the drive from Pottsville in Schuylkill County to the tiny, historic town surrounded by strip mines in Luzerne County. In the two centuries since anthracite was first extracted from the ground in Northeastern Pennsylvania, this landscape has been ripped apart by drift mines, tunnels, slopes, shafts, and now massive draglines that scour away at coal veins hundreds of feet below the surface.
The entire landscape surrounding the city of Hazleton resembles a black-colored moonscape of craters and towering black piles of dirt and rock.
It’s a bit of a shock for first-timers to the region like Codie and Rich – less so for Luke and I.
On arriving at Eckley, we pulled into the parking lot and headed for the visitors center and museum.
The museum has changed little since my childhood, but it contains incredibly informative exhibits and remarkable artifacts from life and work in the Coal Region.
This isn’t just about the work in the mines; the museum contains extensive interpretation about the lives of women and children in the patch towns of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The exhibits also explore themes of religion, health, medical care, and leisure in the region.
As a bunch of Pennsylvania Civil War historians, we were also fascinated by several exhibits about the conflict’s impact on Eckley and its residents.
After watching the orientation film (this is where the museum feels most dated – the film and its projection hasn’t changed at all since my first memories of going to Eckley), we went through museum exhibits and then out into the village of Eckley itself.
Outside, visitors can take a self-guided walking tour of the patch town or call into an audio-tour that navigates each stop. The village has undergone significant historic preservation work to shore up and preserve the variety of homes in Eckley.
Single family homes, multiple family dwellings, and boardinghouses have interpretation on the outside, providing a glimpse at life in a Coal Region patch town at various eras in the town’s history.
Also preserved, though not open on the day we visited, are Eckley’s small Protestant and Catholic churches. Both were built in the Civil War era as the Coal Region boomed on war-time demand for anthracite.
Other buildings include a social hall, a company store, doctor’s office, and superintendent’s home.
The breaker, seen in the Molly Maguires film, has fallen into complete disrepair, but in early 2025, the historic site announced plans for rebuilding the breaker to interpret these once iconic Coal Region structures that dotted the landscape of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
We walked the length of the village, read a lot of interpretative markers, and took in the atmosphere of a village caught somewhere around the turn of the 20th century. It’s a fascinating historic site to experience and worth the winding roads and lunar-like landscape you’ll pass on your way to get there and to go home again.
Our visit concluded with lunch at Jimmy’s Quick Lunch in Hazleton, a historic hot dog spot dating back to the 1930s – a fitting end to an afternoon steeped in Coal Region heritage.
Visiting Eckley Miners’ Village
Location: 2 Eckley Main Street, Weatherly, PA 18255
Hours of Operation:
Open Year-Round
- Wednesday through Sunday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
- Closed Monday and Tuesday
Walk or Drive the Site: FREE
Museum Admission Prices:
- Adults (13-64): $8
- Seniors (65+): $7
- Children (ages 3-12): $6
- Children under 3: Free
- Active military and immediate family: Free
Guided Tours: Offered seasonally; contact the museum directly for schedules and availability. (Additional $2 fee per person)
Facilities: Visitor center, museum exhibits, restrooms, picnic area, and parking.
For the latest updates and more information, visit Eckley’s official website or call ahead at (570) 636-2070.
More Luzerne County Stories
An Eckley, Pennsylvania sailor recounts the Battle of Midway | June 1942
Remembering the Stockton Mine Disaster | December 18, 1869
The Lattimer Massacre | September 10, 1897
Subscribe to the latest from Jake Wynn – Public Historian
Enter your email below to receive the newest stories.
Thank you, Jake, for this segment. I was born in Hazleton and graduated from Pottsville High School in 1965. My paternal grandfather was an immigrant ferrier in Hazleton who took care of the mules that drove the coal cars. He died in his 50\’s, apparently of COPD or lung disease, in 1935. I\’ve enjoyed your work as a public historian for many years, and I\’m writing to once again express my gratitude for your work and living presence.
Ed Berkowitz
Thanks for the support, Ed, and for sharing your story! – Jake