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
In 1831, a land sale took place at a coffee house in Philadelphia that launched coal mining operations in northern Dauphin County.
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.
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.
In July 1906, engineers from rival coal mines played for bragging rights in northern Dauphin County.
A dispatch to the New York Times from August 1874 details life and work in the thriving Dauphin County mining community.
"I pronounce this rebellion wicked," thundered John Chandler Gregg in a speech given in Wiconisco, Pennsylvania.
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.
