Photographs show makeshift emergency hospital in Lykens, Pennsylvania during 1918 pandemic

These incredible photographs show the tent field hospital set up in Lykens during the darkest month in American history.

Grudge Match: Lykens and Williamstown football teams dueled for championship in remarkable 1904 game

The game ended in a scoreless tie. But that doesn't mean the circumstances surrounding this game aren't fascinating.

Four Christmases – Holiday excerpts from Henry Keiser’s Civil War diary

Four diary entries from the Civil War document the evolution of holiday experiences of a soldier from Pennsylvania's Coal Region.

“Only Hoover is Big Enough” – A Lykens newspaper’s editorial on the eve of the 1932 election

The Lykens Standard voiced support for President Herbert Hoover and called the campaign against him illegitimate.

Letters from War – A high school sports pundit from a US Army base in England, January 1944

In a letter written on January 30, 1944, Pfc. Irvin Schwartz opined on high school basketball in his native Schuylkill County.

An 1835 visit to the mines at Wiconisco Township

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

An important moment in Coal Region history took place in a Philadelphia coffee house in 1831

In 1831, a land sale took place at a coffee house in Philadelphia that launched coal mining operations in northern Dauphin County.

“In Scarlet Fever’s Grip” – This 1910 epidemic crippled Lykens and closed schools and businesses

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.

“The Impending Strike” – Lykens on the eve of the 1902 Coal Strike

On the eve of the 1902 Coal Strike, the communities of Lykens and Wiconisco were ripped by tension as residents awaited news.