On November 30, 1871, Lykens quietly marked Thanksgiving: businesses closed; Lutheran and Episcopal services thinly attended while railroads and collieries worked. Read the full story of a 19th century Thanksgiving in a mining town.
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.
A photograph by Isaac Kunkel shows the mining community of Lykens, Pennsylvania in the years after the Civil War. The image is among the earliest taken of this northern Dauphin County community. Read the full story.
A Glimpse of 1900s Lykens, PA This historic photo captures horse-drawn wagons and early automobiles sharing bustling Market Street. Towering coal culm banks loom in the distance, reflecting an era of booming industry on the edge of Pennsylvania’s Coal Region. Read the full story.
In 1854, a festive cannon salute in Lykens, Pennsylvania turned tragic on the Fourth of July. One man was killed, another lost an arm, highlighting the hazards of 19th-century holiday revelry. Read the full story.
Uncover rare photographs of a schoolyard turned into a makeshift hospital during the devastating 1918 flu pandemic in Lykens, Pennsylvania. With hundreds falling ill daily, US Army medical teams were called in. Dive into this horrific chapter of American history and see these remarkable images from the pivotal moment.
George Keiser died of typhoid fever in 1863. He was 17 and had just returned from service in the Pennsylvania militia during the Civil War.
These newspaper ads appeared in the Lykens Register in February 1872.
The Lykens Standard voiced support for President Herbert Hoover and called the campaign against him illegitimate.
In 1831, a land sale took place at a coffee house in Philadelphia that launched coal mining operations in northern Dauphin County.