In 1877, coal dealers ventured deep into Schuylkill County’s Kalmia Colliery to witness Pennsylvania’s booming anthracite industry up close. Experience the sights, sounds, and gritty realities that shaped the Coal Region. Read the full story.
In December 1871, a devastating fire nearly claimed lives at the Kalmia Colliery in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Flames swept through the breaker, trapping miners and sparking rumors of arson by the Molly Maguires in this turbulent era of coal industry violence in Pennsylvania history. Read the Full Story.
Explore the remarkable life of Captain Alexander B. Frazer, a Scottish immigrant who rose to Civil War heroism and later became a respected Coal Region mine foreman in Schuylkill County. From battlefield bravery to leading immigrant mining communities, Frazer’s story is a fascinating American tale from the 19th century. Read the Full Story.
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.
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.
A writer and his friends rode the Reading Railroad to write a travel guide. They reached the end of the line in Williams Valley.