A newspaper clipping from 1872 takes us into a long-demolished building at the heart of Williamstown, PA.
“An enduring monument” – A trip inside Williamstown’s opera house and public hall
Then and Now: Williamstown’s Emergency Influenza Hospital
A modern walk to the places that saw the worst of the suffering during the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak.
“All honor to the ladies” – The women of Williams Valley cast their first vote
On November 2, 1920, the women of Williams Valley cast their first ballots under the 19th Amendment.
World War I draftees paraded through Elizabethville in 1918 before marching off to war
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.
“The sweet strains of music were heard” – Memorial Day in Williamstown
Photographs taken on Memorial Day 1907 in Williamstown, Pennsylvania show a community commemorating its war dead.
When the Klan came to Williams Valley – 1924
A recent visit to a cemetery in Schuylkill County inspired an examination of a dark chapter of local history.
“Big Lick” – Photographs from the 1860s show a Pennsylvania coal mine with an odd name
The images reveal pictures of industry growing on the side of Big Lick Mountain in Upper Dauphin County after the Civil War.
“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.
“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.
Williamstown sailor recounts surviving a German U-boat attack, two weeks in a lifeboat in 1943
Jim Shurskis told the dramatic story of surviving his ship's sinking to students from Williamstown High School.
