An August 1962 news report documents the early efforts to squelch an escalating mine fire at Centralia, Pennsylvania.
An August 1962 report warned of escalating disaster in Centralia, Pennsylvania
A Coal Region editorial on the frightening new world created by the atomic bomb | August 1945
The editors of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader warned readers on August 7, 1945 that the atomic destruction of Hiroshima opened a dangerous new age.
“The Breaker Boy” – A poem from 1897 about the child laborers of the Coal Region
In 1897, a former breaker boy penned a poem in remembrance of the child laborers of the Coal Region.
Petitions for a new Pennsylvania county called “Lykens” in 1837
In 1837, residents of three Pennsylvania counties filed petitions seeking to form their own county called "Lykens." Their efforts were unsuccessful.
A Nazi propaganda magazine from 1945 featured photographs of a Schuylkill County mining operation
A soldier from Schuylkill County was stunned when he found photographs from the Pennsylvania Coal Region in a magazine published in Nazi Germany.
An 1863 assassination attempt on a US Army commander near Pottsville, PA
On August 8, 1863, Brigadier General William Whipple was nearly gunned down on the outskirts of Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
An important moment in Coal Region history took place in a Philadelphia coffee house in 1831
In 1831, a land sale took place at a coffee house in Philadelphia that launched coal mining operations in northern Dauphin County.
A 1918 Public Service Announcement: “Influenza: How To Avoid It – How To Treat Those Who Have It”
An October 1918 PSA from the Pennsylvania state government told residents how to avoid pandemic influenza, or if necessary, how to treat it.
Scranton newsboys pleaded for face masks at the peak of the 1918 pandemic
As the 1918 pandemic reached its peak in Scranton, PA, the city's newsboys had a fascination with face masks.
“In Scarlet Fever’s Grip” – This 1910 epidemic crippled Lykens and closed schools and businesses
In 1910, an epidemic of scarlet fever spun out of control in the Coal Region community of Lykens and left a trail of bodies in its wake.