A Jewel in the Crown of Old King Coal: Eckley Miners’ Village

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Jewel in the Crown of Old King Coal: Eckley Miners’ Village It survives – somewhat miraculously – as a vestige of Pennsylvania’s coal mining heritage, a link in what was once a chain of little coal communities, or patch towns, that dotted the anthracite region. “Eckley is part of the puzzle, but not a unique part. There were numerous, almost identical, mining patch towns like Eckley,” explains Vance Packard, site...
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Museum of Anthracite Mining

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Museum of Anthracite Mining Imagine not only stepping back in time, but visualize clambering – in pitch blackness – deep below the earth’s surface. For miners in northeastern Pennsylvania’s anthracite region, a typical day was spent underground from before dawn until twilight. The Museum of Anthracite Mining in Ashland, Schuylkill County, probes the work and danger of mining the coal that fueled the...
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Coal Breaker Model at Museum of Anthracite Mining

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Coal Breaker Model at Museum of Anthracite Mining Once a familiar sight in the Commonwealth’s northeastern counties, a breaker, a plant which processed raw anthracite, was the heart of a colliery, usually an expansive complex of various buildings and structures surrounding a deep mine or surface stripping operation. A wooden model of a breaker, crafted by Calvin Boyer, a plasterer and cement finisher who lived in Ashland, Schuylkill...
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Visiting the Museum of Anthracite Mining: A Walk Through the Rise and Fall of Anthracite Might

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Visiting the Museum of Anthracite Mining: A Walk Through the Rise and Fall of Anthracite Might One of Pennsylvania’s most significant resources was once considered useless. Although anthracite was distinguished as a natural resource as early as 1770, the sale of “stone coal” – as it was then called – was outlawed in some places. Many believed that anthracite (or “hard” coal) was little better than slate and would not burn. Eventually, however, a...
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