In December 1873, a 4,000 foot tunnel was completed through Big Lick Mountain in Dauphin County. Williamstown Tunnel opened up Bear Valley for profitable coal mining.
The completion of Williamstown Tunnel – 1873
Captain Richard Budd – Civil War veteran and pioneer of Williamstown
Budd served during the Civil War and later became a prominent citizen in Dauphin County's largest mining community.
Baseball game settled score between colliery engineers in Williams Valley
In July 1906, engineers from rival coal mines played for bragging rights in northern Dauphin County.
Interview with a survivor of the 1904 Williamstown Colliery Disaster
David Watkeys was pulled unconscious from the Williamstown Tunnel on May 25, 1904. He survived to tell his story.
The Williamstown Colliery Disaster of 1904
10 miners were killed when toxic gas from a locomotive filled Williamstown Tunnel on May 25, 1904
Video: A short history of Williamstown Tunnel in northern Dauphin County
Our first Facebook Live video gives a short history of Williamstown Tunnel at the southwestern border of the Coal Region
“A first-class breaker” – Photographs of Williamstown Colliery in the 1860s
Isaac Kunkel photographed the Williamstown Colliery in 1860s and documented the birth of a new town.
“A Shocking Mining Accident” in Williamstown, Pennsylvania – April 1872
"The excitement is great," reported the Lykens Register in April 1872. Williamstown Colliery had just experienced its deadliest accident to date.
Anthracite coal and the Civil War fueled the birth of Williamstown in the 1860s
A report from the Summit Branch Railroad Company in 1865 details the growth of a new community at the northern tip of Dauphin County.
“Abandoned as Unprofitable” – Williamstown Colliery Closes Forever
In January 1942, workers began dismantling the once thriving Williamstown mining operation.
