Mothers’ Memorial, Ashland

Posted by on Oct 9, 2020 in | Comments Off on Mothers’ Memorial, Ashland In the late 1800s Ashland and the surrounding area began experiencing a long and steady decline in employment, resulting in the departure of many men in search of jobs elsewhere. In 1901 a small group of remaining and former residents hit upon the idea of hosting an annual reunion where they could reconnect with old friends, the boys of their childhood. This group evolved into the Ashland Boys...
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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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Lost and Found

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Lost and Found Lost Shamokin, Northumberland County, native William H. Lee (1884-1971) was well known as an architect of theaters and academic buildings, designing more than two hundred movie theaters, including the Victoria Theatre in his hometown. Opened in 1918, Shamokin’s Victoria Theatre – known affectionately by generations of residents as “the Vickie” – was commissioned by...
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Harnessing the Power of the Wind: A Contemporary Use for a Historic Energy Source

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Harnessing the Power of the Wind: A Contemporary Use for a Historic Energy Source Much like the oil farms of the last century were for drillers and riggers, Pennsylvania’s wind farms are proving grounds for engineers and technicians as they harness wind power. The long-standing use of wind power that for centuries propelled sailing vessels has been transformed throughout the world to produce electricity. Farmers used wind power in the late nineteenth and early twentieth...
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