And a German immigrant with a (now) famous last name raced to Schuylkill County to quench the city's thirst for suds.
As Pottsville rapidly expanded in the 1820s, it was missing something important: beer

And a German immigrant with a (now) famous last name raced to Schuylkill County to quench the city's thirst for suds.
This newly acquired postcard shows Millersburg, Pennsylvania and the wide Susquehanna River as it winds through the mountains.
We recently acquired a new image of this Coal Region community in Northumberland County.
In 1834 and 1835, a scientist named Constantine Samuel Rafinesque traveled widely through Pennsylvania in order to document the geology and biology of the Keystone State. In the spring of 1835, the Turkish-born polymath traveled north from Harrisburg aboard canal boats alongside the Susquehanna River to Millersburg. In his book, A Life of Travels, Rafinesque details … Continue reading An 1835 visit to the mines at Wiconisco Township
Pottsville photograph A.M. Allen made a trip to northern Schuylkill County to capture an image of the Shenandoah City Colliery.
This is a piece continued from last week. You can read Part 1 of our brief series on the remembrances of Robert Weir from 1914 HERE. After describing his arrival in the Coal Region in 1852, Robert Weir turned to discussing his work in Schuylkill County as a hoisting engineer in various collieries in the … Continue reading A Scottish immigrant’s remarkable working history in 1850s Schuylkill County (Part 2)
An 84-year-old sat down with a Pottsville Republican reporter in October 1914 for a discussion about what it was like to live and work in Schuylkill County in the mid-19th century. Robert Weir came to the Coal Region from Scotland in 1852 and found work in the coal mines in the vicinity of Branchdale, Forestville, and Heckscherville. … Continue reading “My brains and my wits” – A Scottish immigrant recalls his arrival in Schuylkill County in 1852
The photograph by Michael Dockweiler shows the Schuylkill County mining community as it appeared in the late 19th century.
Claude Merchant's April 1865 poem summed up the feelings in Pottsville, Pennsylvania after the Confederate capital fell to US forces.
"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.