Interview with a survivor of the 1904 Williamstown Colliery Disaster
David Watkeys was pulled unconscious from the Williamstown Tunnel on May 25, 1904. He survived to tell his story.
The Williamstown Colliery Disaster of 1904
10 miners were killed when toxic gas from a locomotive filled Williamstown Tunnel on May 25, 1904
“A first-class breaker” – Photographs of Williamstown Colliery in the 1860s
Isaac Kunkel photographed the Williamstown Colliery in 1860s and documented the birth of a new town.
“Abandoned as Unprofitable” – Williamstown Colliery Closes Forever
In January 1942, workers began dismantling the once thriving Williamstown mining operation.
The completion of Williamstown Tunnel – 1873
In December 1873, a 4,000 foot tunnel was completed through Big Lick Mountain in Dauphin County. Williamstown Tunnel opened up Bear Valley for profitable coal mining.
Fire at Kalmia Colliery in Schuylkill County nearly claimed lives – December 1871
On December 1, 1871, the Kalmia Colliery breaker burned to the ground, nearly killing a night crew of workers trapped inside by the fumes.
Captain Richard Budd – Civil War veteran and pioneer of Williamstown
Budd served during the Civil War and later became a prominent citizen in Dauphin County’s largest mining community.
Grievances of Williamstown miners against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company – 1886
“We are men and all we ask is to be treated as such,” wrote the miners in a public letter published during their 1886 strike.
Baseball game settled score between colliery engineers in Williams Valley
In July 1906, engineers from rival coal mines played for bragging rights in northern Dauphin County.
Video: A short history of Williamstown Tunnel in northern Dauphin County
Our first Facebook Live video gives a short history of Williamstown Tunnel at the southwestern border of the Coal Region
