On a visit to Pottsville in March 2026, I made a stop by the 1851 Philadelphia and Reading Railroad depot on East Union Street. While on-site, I recorded this quick YouTube video discussing the history of the depot and its Civil War history.

The passenger station is where the First Defenders departed the Coal Region in the days after Fort Sumter in April 1861. Thousands of soldiers followed – more than 13,000 soldiers from Schuylkill County served in the Civil War.

We have written previously about the history of this railroad depot, Pottsville’s oldest remaining railroad building.

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Read more about Pottsville and the Civil War

The First Defenders depart from Pottsville, PA | April 17, 1861

A Pottsville Civil War veteran recalls his teenage years in a community at war and enlisting to fight for the Union

The “Great Compromiser” in the Coal Region | Pottsville’s Henry Clay Monument

A public meeting in Pottsville as the Confederate army invaded Pennsylvania | June 1863

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