Discover a poignant recollection from Dr. Charles H. Miller, who mourned a young schoolmate taken by disease in the Coal Region. His emotional tribute highlights the fragility of life in 19th century mining towns, where epidemics often claimed children far too soon. Read the full story.
Step inside Eckley’s 1861 Church of the Immaculate Conception - built for Irish Catholic mineworkers and later deconsecrated, then immortalized in the film, The Molly Maguires. Today, it stands restored as part of Eckley Miners’ Village, a testament to faith and community in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region. Read the full story.
On Election Night 1864, politics turned deadly in Tremont, PA. After Schuylkill County voters re-elected Congressman Myer Strouse, a band of Irish mineworkers—calling themselves the “Bloody 69th”—paraded through town. Hours later, 25-year-old George W. Thompson was beaten to death. No one was ever tried. This is the Coal Region’s volatile Civil War era—press bias, ethnic tension, and justice denied—told through one forgotten murder. Read the full story.
Netflix’s upcoming miniseries Death by Lightning takes on one of America’s most tragic presidential stories—the 1881 assassination of James A. Garfield and the medical blunders that doomed him. Starring Michael Shannon, Nick Offerman, and Matthew Macfadyen and based on Candace Millard’s Destiny of the Republic, this one hits close to home for me. Read the full story.
Stephen Crane’s vivid McClure’s Magazine account plunges into a Scranton, PA anthracite mine, describing granite walls, roaring descent, and oppressive darkness. Experience his visceral portrayal of fear and wonder as the wooden elevator hurtles into the earth’s depths. A haunting glimpse into late-19th-century mining life. Read the full story.
On October 2, 1918, Lt. Ivan L. Lautenbacher of Schuylkill Haven, PA fell in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive with the 316th Infantry, 79th Division. His own letter home before the battle foreshadowed the danger. A community mourned; a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross honored his resolve despite suffering from pandemic influenza while in combat. Read the full story.
In October 1944, Staff Sergeant John T. Stocker of Williamstown, PA was killed during Operation Market Garden in Holland. Weeks later, his mother received a solemn letter from General James Gavin detailing her son’s bravery and sacrifice during World War II. Read the full story.
Coal mining regions brim with folklore—especially ghosts in the mines. Drawing on newspaper accounts and tales elsewhere, I talk with Matt Maris of Local Historia about stories shaped by ever-present death and grief in Pennsylvania and beyond. Check Local Historia’s tours and programs. Read the full story and watch the video!
In October 1902, as the Coal Strike came to an end, crowds gathered outside a coal yard in New York City’s Lower East Side, eager to secure fuel before winter. This photograph from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly captures the urgency as anthracite coal shipments from Pennsylvania resumed, bringing relief to the city’s residents. Read the full story.
Folklorist George Korson roamed Pennsylvania’s Coal Region in the 1920s and 1930s, capturing stories born of mysterious knockings, spirits of miners killed in disasters, and minds disturbed after fatal accidents. From Avondale’s haunted chambers to a peddler’s wailing rock and the unrecovered dead of the Woodward Colliery - these tales reveal miners’ fears and folklore. Read the full story.