“I saw an awful sight” | A Coal Region soldier at South Mountain and Antietam

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Ten days after Antietam, a young soldier from Wiconisco Township, PA sat down to put it into words for his father back home. Private Joseph Workman of the 96th Pennsylvania had just walked the battlefield days earlier. "I saw an awful sight," he wrote. "We had to move away from there on account of the stink." His letter, recently digitized by the Library of Congress, provides insights into what he witnessed at the Battle of South Mountain as well. Read the full story.

The first work at Bear Gap | Richard Nolen and the start of coal mining at Wiconisco Township in 1831

Posted on by Jake Wynn

“I had three miles to walk every morning to get to my work.” In the fall of 1831, coal mining in northern Dauphin County began with a single stone mason and a long walk into the wilderness at Bear Gap. What started as one small job would grow into an industry that employed thousands of people. Read the Full Story.

Illustration of the coal mines at Bear Gap, Wiconisco Township, PA | 1862

Posted on by Jake Wynn
The mining operations at Bear Gap during the Civil War Wiconisco Township Pennsylvania 1862

This 1862 illustration captures the coal mines at Bear Gap during the Civil War, showing how industry, railroads, and labor shaped northern Dauphin County at a pivotal moment. For me, it brings a familiar landscape back to life as it once was. Read the full story.

At the Lykens Valley Slope in Wiconisco, PA | 1860s

Posted on by Jake Wynn

This 1860s photograph captures mining operations at Bear Gap, where men, mules, and machines pulled anthracite from deep underground. It’ offers a look at how coal shaped daily life in Wiconisco Township during the Civil War era. Read the full story.

Peter W. Sheafer | Mining surveyor and engineer in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region

Posted on by Jake Wynn

From Bear Gap to the Mahanoy Valley, Peter W. Sheafer's mining surveys shaped where mines were sunk and towns were built. Read the Full Story.

Video | After the Blaze: The Human Cost of the 1877 Lykens Mine Fire

Posted on by Jake Wynn

In 1877, a mine fire in Lykens, PA did more than just rage out of control underground. It threw 800 men out of work, left families destitute, and occurred amid one of the most explosive years in American labor history. This new video explores the human cost of disaster in the Coal Region. Watch the Video.

Video | The Lykens Mine Fire of 1877: A Forgotten Coal Region Disaster

Posted on by Jake Wynn

On New Year’s Day 1877, fire erupted deep inside the Short Mountain Colliery and would not be easily contained. It burned for months, idled hundreds of miners, and shook the communities of Lykens and Wiconisco during a national depression. This new video traces the disaster and its aftermath. Watch the video.

Memory of a friend carried off by childhood disease | 1876

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Discover a poignant recollection from Dr. Charles H. Miller, who mourned a young schoolmate taken by disease in the Coal Region. His emotional tribute highlights the fragility of life in 19th century mining towns, where epidemics often claimed children far too soon. Read the full story.

The Coal Region’s struggle and resilience during the Great Depression | Article

Posted on by Jake Wynn
Shenandoah City Colliery during the Great Depression Schuylkilll County Jake Wynn Public Historian coal

The Great Depression hit Pennsylvania’s Coal Region hard. Collieries shuttered, jobs vanished, and families scraped by with bootleg mining, relief drives, and New Deal work. In my latest RealClear Pennsylvania column, I trace the collapse from Black Tuesday to efforts in towns like Williamstown and Lykens to survive the depression—and what lingers today. Read the full story.

Photograph of the mining town of Lykens, Pennsylvania | 1860s

Posted on by Jake Wynn
Lykens, PA just after the Civil War Jake Wynn Public Historian Dauphin County Pennsylvania Coal Region

A photograph by Isaac Kunkel shows the mining community of Lykens, Pennsylvania in the years after the Civil War. The image is among the earliest taken of this northern Dauphin County community. Read the full story.