Schuylkill County: Built on Coal

The history of Schuylkill County is inextricably bound to the story – and drama – of the great anthracite industry in the United States. Despite nearly two centuries of active mining, the county’s 783 square miles still boast the largest accessible reserves of hard coal known in the world. Its lives and lifestyles have been quasi-fictionalized by two of the county’s best...
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Finding the Fabulous Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley

The exuberantly decorated furniture made during the first half of the nineteenth century in the Mahantongo Valley of south central Pennsylvania continues to attract considerable attention. The Mahantongo Valley, roughly seventeen miles long and four miles wide, lies about twenty-five miles north of Harrisburg, and its topography is formed by a series of sharp ridges, meandering creeks, and steep...
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