These simple rows of miners’ houses in Williamstown, Pennsylvania were constructed by the Summit Branch Railroad Company as the Civil War neared its end in 1864 and 1865.

Their construction marked a pivotal moment in the growth of this remote valley in northern Dauphin County, as the Williamstown Tunnel, freshly cut into the mountain, began delivering anthracite coal to waiting railcars in early 1866.

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With the coal flowing, the village quickly transformed from a quiet patch of forest into a booming coal town.

By the early 1870s, Williamstown had taken on the appearance of a fully formed community – lined with more company housing, new businesses, churches, saloons, and hotels. As workers poured into the area from across Pennsylvania and beyond, many found shelter in these modest homes, built to house the growing workforce needed to operate the Williamstown Colliery, one of the most ambitious and prosperous mining projects in the state at the time.

By 1900, the town’s population had climbed above 4,000 residents (counting both the borough of Williamstown and the surrounding Williams Township), nearly all of whom owed their livelihoods to the coal that poured out of the mountains surrounding the valley.

A few of these company houses still stand as quiet witnesses to the town’s explosive growth in the second half of the 19th century on Fifth and Sixth streets in Williamstown – a reminder of how deeply the coal industry shaped life, labor, and community in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region.

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Read more about Williamstown, Pennsylvania

The completion of Williamstown Tunnel | 1873

The Williamstown Colliery Disaster of 1904

“Abandoned as Unprofitable” – Williamstown Colliery Closes Forever

“This is a thriving little village” – Williamstown in 1871

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