We recently acquired this colorized postcard of the Glen Burn Colliery near Shamokin
A colorized postcard of the Glen Burn Colliery at Shamokin

We recently acquired this colorized postcard of the Glen Burn Colliery near Shamokin
A filmmaker recorded silent moving images of a strip mine in operation in Schuylkill County in December 1917.
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)
The development of the rich veins of coal that run beneath Schuylkill County fueled an industrial revolution in the 1850s. And much of the coal that supplied the iron furnaces, steam ships, and kept millions of Americans warm as a home heating fuel traveled to market through America's fourth largest city: Philadelphia. In late 1852, … Continue reading “The great coal depot” – Illustrations of Port Richmond in Philadelphia in 1852
In October 1914, war raged on the European continent. In what was then called the "Great War," industrial-scale war was waged on a massive scale for the first time. Americans were paying attention. A commentator for the Pottsville Republican noted a curious thing about the suddenly mechanized armies smashing each other to pulp on the battlefields … Continue reading “The Mine Mule Affected by the European War” – 1914
A photograph from 1891 shows mineworkers posed at the bottom of the Lincoln Colliery breaker.
An August 1962 news report documents the early efforts to squelch an escalating mine fire at Centralia, Pennsylvania.
In 1831, a land sale took place at a coffee house in Philadelphia that launched coal mining operations in northern Dauphin County.