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
Founded in 1851, the Short Mountain Coal Company grew rapidly during the Civil War in association with the Pennsylvania Railroad.
In May 1927, Henry Keiser described the Coal Region towns where he grew up as they looked in the 1850s.
On February 7, 1862, a roof collapsed inside the Short Mountain Colliery killing a respected miner and wounding several others.
In June 1867, a thunderstorm passed through Wiconisco, Pennsylvania and electrocuted miners deep within one of the town's coal mines.
A photograph taken shortly after the Civil War shows mining operations in Wiconisco Township in Dauphin County in the 1860s.
In Lykens, Pennsylvania the year 1877 was spent in economic desperation after a devastating mine fire.
On a cold and snowy day in 1877, a fire began at the bottom of Short Mountain Colliery in Wiconisco, Pennsylvania. Two communities would be forever altered by its flames.
Wynning History 