On a sunny Saturday in August 1918, more than 150 young men prepared for entry into the U.S. Army at the town park in Elizabethville, PA.
World War I draftees paraded through Elizabethville in 1918 before marching off to war
“Incidents of a by-gone age” – A description of life in the Coal Region before the Civil War
Catherine Romberger Myers was born in Porter Township in 1840. She spoke to a reporter in 1931 about growing up in pre-industrial Williams Valley.
“Cheering, shouting and rejoicing” – A Pennsylvanian’s experience at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865
Sergeant Henry Keiser's diary reveals a soldier's perspective of the Civil War's dramatic final moments.
“Baseball fever” – Williams Valley’s 1906 season featured pro players, violent fans
In 1906, a small valley in Pennsylvania's Coal Region caught a case of baseball fever. The towns were never the same again.
After the First World War, miners in Williams Valley faced an uncertain future
A newspaper correspondent details life in Lykens and Wiconisco in the months after the end of the Great War.
“We want a vigorous prosecution of the war” – Chaplain calls for hard war against Confederacy in 1863
"I pronounce this rebellion wicked," thundered John Chandler Gregg in a speech given in Wiconisco, Pennsylvania.
“Stick to the Union” – Factory girls supported union miners during Coal Strike of 1902
Coal miners across Pennsylvania went on strike in 1902. They couldn't have succeeded without the ladies.
“This community sustains a great loss” – A fatal mine disaster in Wiconisco Township during the Civil War
On February 7, 1862, a roof collapsed inside the Short Mountain Colliery killing a respected miner and wounding several others.
Parade to raise money for World War I brought deadly influenza to Williams Valley in 1918
"Good music always has an appeal to most people," wrote a reporter accompanying a Liberty Loan Drive parade through Central Pennsylvania in the early fall of 1918. And in the coal towns of Dauphin County's Williams Valley, the bands and singers were particularly successful in attracting a crowd. On the evening of October 2, 1918, … Continue reading Parade to raise money for World War I brought deadly influenza to Williams Valley in 1918
Investigating the 1877 Lykens Mine Fire – The Pennsylvania Mine Inspector’s Report
The Pennsylvania Inspectors of Mines report details findings about the devastating mine fire in the Short Mountain Colliery in Wiconisco Twp.
