An aerial survey of Pennsylvania by airplane in 1938 shows us the mining operation just a few years before it closed forever.
Aerial image shows Williamstown Colliery before its closure | 1938
Major Joseph Anthony | Civil War veteran and mining superintendent
Major Joseph Anthony was severely wounded during his Civil War service, but later took up a job leading mining operations in Dauphin County, PA.
Photograph of a World War I soldier from Williamstown, Pennsylvania | 1918
Henry Leander Kramer served in the US Army during World War I and returned home to work as a coal miner in his hometown after the war.
2nd Lieutenant Harry Hopple | Lost on a bombing raid in March 1944
Hopple was serving as bombardier on a mission over Germany when his plane went missing and was presumed lost at sea.
A walk to the long abandoned rail junction on Big Lick Mountain | Dauphin County, PA
Today, it doesn’t look like much. A forked path in the woods on State Game Lands in northern Dauphin County. Not much else. We are looking west, the trail on the left headed toward the village of Wiconisco and the right headed one mile to the long forgotten Big Lick Colliery. Behind us, the trail … Continue reading A walk to the long abandoned rail junction on Big Lick Mountain | Dauphin County, PA
The completion of Williamstown Tunnel | 1873
On December 9, 1873, the Williamstown Tunnel in northern Dauphin County was completed as tunneling teams from both sides of Big Lick Mountain finally met. This engineering feat, begun in 1870, opened new coal reserves for the Summit Branch Railroad Company and transformed the Williamstown Colliery into one of the most productive anthracite mines in the region. Learn how this pivotal moment in Pennsylvania’s coal mining history unfolded. Read the full story.
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.
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