Hopple was serving as bombardier on a mission over Germany when his plane went missing and was presumed lost at sea.
2nd Lieutenant Harry Hopple | Lost on a bombing raid in March 1944
Ivan C. Lewis | Pearl Harbor survivor lost while serving with the 8th Air Force in 1943
Ivan C. Lewis, a Pearl Harbor survivor from Tower City, Pennsylvania, narrowly escaped death in the 1941 attack only to later fall while serving as a tail gunner with the 8th Air Force in World War II. His B-17 was downed over Germany in 1943. Read the Full Story.
Protest blocks the streets of Tower City, Pennsylvania | 1958
Women in the Schuylkill County community locked arms and blocked streets to prevent coal trucks from navigating the town's streets.
The completion of Williamstown Tunnel | 1873
On December 9, 1873, the Williamstown Tunnel in northern Dauphin County was completed as tunneling teams from both sides of Big Lick Mountain finally met. This engineering feat, begun in 1870, opened new coal reserves for the Summit Branch Railroad Company and transformed the Williamstown Colliery into one of the most productive anthracite mines in the region. Learn how this pivotal moment in Pennsylvania’s coal mining history unfolded. Read the full story.
A child’s eye view – my 9/11 story
As an eight-year-old, watching the attacks of September 11, 2001 changed who I am and the path I took in life.
“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.
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.
“Quite a surprise” – Tower City mine workers respond to beginning of 1902 strike
A look at the perspectives of the mine workers of far western Schuylkill County as the 1902 coal strike began.