A brief look at the history of Ashland's Pioneer Colliery in the 19th century.
“The Pioneer” – Ashland’s Pioneer Colliery in 1864
“An enduring monument” – A trip inside Williamstown’s opera house and public hall
A newspaper clipping from 1872 takes us into a long-demolished building at the heart of Williamstown, PA.
A visit to the former site of Kalmia Colliery | Schuylkill County
Explore the remnants of Kalmia Colliery in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, from a 2018 visit. Once a busy mining village, Kalmia’s abandoned foundations and scarred landscapes reflect a bygone era of Coal Region history, where anthracite mining shaped lives and left lasting marks on the landscape. Read the Full Story.
Christmas Eve in Pottsville | December 24, 1902
The Pottsville Republican captured the bustling final moments before Christmas 1902 in its Christmas Eve edition.
“Coal is gonna be king”
Reactions to a December 2018 story about a new coal mine in Schuylkill County.
Letters from the Battle of Fredericksburg | December 1862
The Pittston Gazette published three letters detailing the bloody carnage at Fredericksburg in December 1862.
A ‘wet’ Christmas in the Coal Region during Prohibition
A reporter for the Hazleton Plain Speaker interview bootleggers to get a scoop on the booze situation in 1926.
Christmas in a Coal Region ‘patch town’
Discover the traditions of a Christmas in a 19th-century Schuylkill County patch town, where miners’ families in Kalmia, gathered around a simple Christmas tree in their schoolhouse. Through firsthand accounts, explore how Coal Region communities celebrated amidst coal dust and hard labor. Read the Full Story.
“Assaults upon the senses” – The sights and sounds of the Coal Region in the 19th century
A visit to the Coal Region in the 19th century could be an overwhelming and memorable experience.
The 1918 influenza pandemic tore apart this small Pennsylvania family
Influenza swept through the Hensel family of Sheridan, Pennsylvania in October 1918, leaving three dead and lives changed forever.