A bleak winter street in Lattimer, Pennsylvania hides a violent truth. This 1898 illustration captures a Coal Region patch town just months after immigrant mineworkers were killed there for demanding fair treatment. Read the Full Story.
An 1898 magazine sketch shows the breaker at Lattimer, the very colliery the striking miners were marching toward when sheriff’s deputies opened fire in September 1897. Read the full story.
Merry Christmas! Enjoy an amusing poem from Luzerne County celebrating the beloved turkey dinner in December 1830. Read it here.
In 1892, a Halloween prank in Plymouth, PA backfired when a would-be “ghost” tried to spook trolley crews on night-time duty. Instead of fleeing in terror, the motormen and conductors grabbed the costumed prankster and hauled him aboard. The joke ended with an unmasked walk home. 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.
In 1869, the Avondale Mine Disaster claimed 110 lives, leaving grieving families to bury loved ones in a solemn mass funeral. This tragedy rocked Pennsylvania’s Coal Region, sparking outrage over safety failures and pushing for long-overdue reforms. Read the full story.
As news of President Garfield’s shocking 1881 shooting reached the Coal Region, communities in Luzerne County paused in unified grief and anxious curiosity—echoing the sorrow of Lincoln’s assassination. Discover how local papers and citizens reacted to this national crisis and its lingering impact. Read the full story.
Discover how this neatly laid-out mining operation near Wilkes-Barre employed up to 1,000 workers, running multiple breakers and a record-length tunnel. Explore the ambitious growth fueling Pennsylvania’s Civil War era coal boom. Read the full story.
During the Great 1902 Coal Strike, entire families in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, scoured towering culm banks, salvaging bits of anthracite to keep their homes warm. This gripping scene, recorded by a Brooklyn Eagle reporter, reveals the stark realities of the era’s labor turmoil. Read the full story.
Explore Eckley Miners’ Village in Luzerne County We stepped back in time at this preserved 1850s patch town - the filming site of "The Molly Maguires" – and learned more about patch towns in the Coal Region. Read the full story of our visit and how you can plan your own trip.