“There is but one feeling expressed, and that is, the government must be sustained.” That line appeared in a letter written from Eckley, Pennsylvania just days after the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861. In the Coal Region, the news sparked a surge of patriotism as young men began volunteering for the US Army. Read the Full Story and Letter.
In 1876, a chilling illustration labeled “A Warning” claimed to show a Molly Maguire “coffin notice” - a written death threat used to spread fear in the Coal Region. These images shaped public panic and were used to justify brutal crackdowns on Irish immigrants and their communities. Read the full story.
Alexander Campbell’s 1877 wake wasn’t the wild scene newspapers loved to imagine. A reporter found a quiet house, women keeping vigil, and men talking in low voices after the execution of 10 Molly Maguires. But his funeral the next day drew one of the biggest crowds the Coal Region had ever seen. Behind the legends, a far more human story comes into focus. Read the full story.
Two days after ten alleged Molly Maguires were hanged in Pottsville and Mauch Chunk, a letter signed “Fiat Lux” appeared in the New York Sun—and it turned the headlines of the day on their head. Instead of cheering the executions as many contemporary newspapers did, the writer blamed the Reading Railroad, coal operators, and a rigged system that kept immigrant mineworkers in brutal poverty, arguing that not all the guilt lay with the men on the gallows. It’s a sharp, early indictment of corporate power in the Coal Region. Read the full story.
In the 1950s, Mauch Chunk was fading - until newspaperman Joe Boyle met Jim Thorpe’s widow and a wild reinvention began. Our rebranded podcast with new co-host Molly Keilty follows the town’s rise and fall and rise again, Thorpe’s story, and the Nickel-A-Week publicity push in the 1950s. This is the wild story of how Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania came into being. Listen to the episode.
In the summer of 1865, victory won in the Civil War, Pennsylvania’s soldiers expected to go home—except the 202nd. Sent instead to the Coal Region to guard mine operators and intimidate striking workers, they called it “disgraceful duty.” A fiery letter from Tamaqua revealed disgust, defiance, and weariness. Read the full story.
Alexander Campbell, born in County Donegal, Ireland, settled in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region after the American Civil War. Accused of involvement with the Molly Maguires, he was executed in 1877, leaving behind a haunting legacy. Follow his journey from Donegal’s rugged coastline to the gallows at Jim Thorpe. Read the full story.
Illustration from 1873 shows operations on the Lehigh Canal
Early industrialist and political power broker Charles Miner describes the opportunity for the future of the mining industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
These remarkable sketches show life in the Coal Region during the middle part of the 19th century, a crucial time in the area's history.