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Coal Region

October 22, 2023

This article is about coal-mining region in northeastern Pennsylvania. For coal-mining regions in general, see coal-mining region.

The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons.

The corporate headquarters of Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company in Mauch Chunk in present-day Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania in the Coal Region. The company, which helped spearhead the U.S. industrial revolution, was founded in 1822 and dissolved in 1986.

The region is typically defined as comprising five Pennsylvania counties, Carbon County, Lackawanna County, Luzerne County, Northumberland County, and Schuylkill County. It is home to 910,716 people as of the 2010 census.[1]

The Coal Region is bordered by Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties (including the Lehigh Valley) to its south; Columbia and Dauphin Counties to its west; Wyoming County to its north; and Warren County, New Jersey to its east.

History Edit

Further information: Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company
See also: History of Pennsylvania
 
A Welsh miner in a coal mine in Pennsylvania's Coal Region in 1910

The population of the Amerindian tribesmen of the Susquehannock nation was reduced 90 percent[2] in three years of a plague of diseases and possibly war,[2] opening up the Susquehanna Valley and all of Pennsylvania to settlement as the tribe was all but eliminated. Settlement in the region predates the American Revolution. Both Delaware and Susquehannock power had been broken by disease and wars between Native American tribes before the British took over the Dutch and Swedish colonies and settled Pennsylvania.

The first discovery of anthracite coal in the region occurred in 1762, and the first mine was established in 1775 near Pittston.[3] In 1791, anthracite was discovered by a hunter atop Pisgah Ridge, and by 1792 the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company began producing and shipping coal to Philadelphia via Mauch Chunk from the Southern Anthracite Field and Summit Hill, built atop the line between Schuylkill County and what would be renamed Carbon County. By 1818, customers fed up with the inconsistent mismanagement leased the Lehigh Coal Mining Company and founded the Lehigh Navigation Company: construction soon began for navigation; the locks and dams on the Lehigh River rapids stretches, later known as the Lehigh Canal (finished in 1820).

In 1822, the two companies merged as the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N), and by 1824 the company was shipping large volumes of coal down the Lehigh and Delaware Canals. Meanwhile, three brothers had similar ideas from near the turn of the century, and about the same time began mining coal in Carbondale, 15 miles (24.1 km) northeast of Scranton, but high enough to run a gravity railroad to the Delaware River and feed New York City via the Delaware and Hudson Canal. Pennsylvania began the Delaware Canal to connect the Lehigh Canal to Philadelphia and environs, while funding to build a canal across the Appalachians' Allegheny Mountains to Pittsburgh. In 1827, LC&N built the second railroad in the country, a gravity railroad from Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, running Summit Hill to Mauch Chunk.

Population rapidly grew in the period following the American Civil War, with the expansion of the mining and railroad industries. English, Welsh, Irish and German immigrants formed a large portion of this increase, followed by Polish, Slovak, Ruthenian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Italian, Russian, Jewish,[4] and Lithuanian immigrants. The influence of these immigrant populations is still strongly felt in the region, with various towns possessing pronounced ethnic characters and cuisine.

The anthracite mining industry loomed over the region until its decline in the 1950s. Strip mines and fires, most notably in Centralia, remain visible. Several violent incidences[spelling?] in the history of the U.S. labor movement occurred within the coal region as this was the location of the Lattimer Massacre and the home of the Molly Maguires.[5]

The Knox Mine Disaster in 1959 served as the death knell for deep mining which faded away in the mid 1960s;[6] almost all current anthracite mining is done via strip mining. Tours of underground mines can be taken in Ashland, Scranton, and Lansford, each of them also having museums dedicated to the mining industry. Also evident are patch towns, small villages affiliated with a particular mine. These towns were owned by the mining company. Though no longer company owned, many hamlets survive; one of them, the Eckley Miners' Village, is a museum and preserved historical town owned and administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, which seeks to restore patch towns to their original state.

Geography Edit

Further information: Geography of Pennsylvania
 
The Coal Region's route to New York City, which ultimately served as the foundation for the Delaware and Hudson Railway and inspired the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal in 1872

The Coal Region lies north of the Lehigh Valley and Berks County regions, south of the Endless Mountains, west of the Pocono Mountains, and east of the Susquehanna Valley. The region lies at the northern edge of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, and draws its name from the vast deposits of anthracite coal that can be found under several of the valleys in the region. The Wyoming Valley is the most densely populated of these valleys, and contains the cities of Wilkes-Barre, Greater Pittston, and Scranton. Hazleton and Pottsville are two of the larger cities in the southern portion of the region. The Lehigh and Schuylkill rivers both originate within the region, while the much larger Susquehanna River skirts the northern edge.

Academics have made the distinction between the North Anthracite Coal Field and the South Anthracite Coal Field,[7] the lower region bearing the further classification Anthracite Uplands[8] in physical geology. The Southern Coal Region can be further broken into the Southeastern and Southwestern Coal Regions, with the divide between the Little Schuylkill River and easternmost tributary of the Schuylkill River with the additional divide line from the Lehigh River watershed extended through Barnesville the determining basins.

County 2010 Population 2015 Population Area
Carbon County 65,249 63,960 387 sq mi (1,002 km2)
Columbia County 67,295 66,672 490 sq mi (1,269 km2)
Lackawanna County 214,437 211,917 465 sq mi (1,204 km2)
Luzerne County 320,918 318,449 906 sq mi (2,350 km2)
Northumberland County 94,528 93,246 478 sq mi (1,238 km2)
Schuylkill County 148,289 144,590 783 sq mi (2,028 km2)
Total 910,716 898,834 3,509 sq mi (9,088 km2)

People Edit

Notable people from the Coal Region

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ Carpenito, Thomas (2019) "The State of Coal and Renewable Energy in Schuylkill County", https://medium.com/@thomascarpenito3/state-of-coal-and-renewable-energy-in-schuylkill-f8850fec3fa6
  2. ^ a b see facts cited and cites of American Heritage book of Indians (1961) in articles: Iroquois, Susquehannock
  3. ^ http://www.msha.gov/district/dist_01/history/history.htm%7Cwork=The 2012-03-24 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Department of Labor|publisher=Mine Safety and Health Administration
  4. ^ Many descents of openly-Jewish immigrants were born in, e.g., Luzerne County alone, per JewishGen and Ancestry.com.
  5. ^ Thomas Keil, Jacqueline M. Keil; 2014. Anthracite's Demise and the Post-Coal Economy of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Lehigh University Press. pp. 15–. ISBN 978-1-61146-176-3.
  6. ^ Karen Ahlquist, 2006. Chorus and Community. University of Illinois Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-252-07284-0.
  7. ^ Healey, Richard (2005) "The Breakers of the Northern Anthracite Coalfield of Pennsylvania", 'Vol. 1, Major breakers prior to 1902'. Dept of Geography, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth. "Northern Anthracite Coalfield of Pennsylvania" (implying there is a Southern Anthracite Coalfield of Pennsylvania)
  8. ^ Sevon, W. D., compiler, 2000, "Physiographic provinces of Pennsylvania", Pennsylvania Geological Survey of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Map 13, scale 1:2,000,000.

External links Edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carbon County, Pennsylvania.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
 
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Coal Region.
  • Coal Mine Region - The Carpathian Connection
  • Pennsylvania's Northern Coal Field
  • A collection of nostalgia and regionalisms from the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania
  • Abandoned Anthracite Mines in PA
  • A website with extensive detail on and a virtual tour of Eckley

October 22, 2023
coal, region, this, article, about, coal, mining, region, northeastern, pennsylvania, coal, mining, regions, general, coal, mining, region, region, northeastern, pennsylvania, known, being, home, largest, known, deposits, anthracite, coal, world, with, estimat. This article is about coal mining region in northeastern Pennsylvania For coal mining regions in general see coal mining region The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons The corporate headquarters of Lehigh Coal amp Navigation Company in Mauch Chunk in present day Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania in the Coal Region The company which helped spearhead the U S industrial revolution was founded in 1822 and dissolved in 1986 The region is typically defined as comprising five Pennsylvania counties Carbon County Lackawanna County Luzerne County Northumberland County and Schuylkill County It is home to 910 716 people as of the 2010 census 1 The Coal Region is bordered by Berks Lehigh and Northampton Counties including the Lehigh Valley to its south Columbia and Dauphin Counties to its west Wyoming County to its north and Warren County New Jersey to its east Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 People 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditFurther information Lehigh Coal amp Navigation Company See also History of Pennsylvania nbsp A Welsh miner in a coal mine in Pennsylvania s Coal Region in 1910The population of the Amerindian tribesmen of the Susquehannock nation was reduced 90 percent 2 in three years of a plague of diseases and possibly war 2 opening up the Susquehanna Valley and all of Pennsylvania to settlement as the tribe was all but eliminated Settlement in the region predates the American Revolution Both Delaware and Susquehannock power had been broken by disease and wars between Native American tribes before the British took over the Dutch and Swedish colonies and settled Pennsylvania The first discovery of anthracite coal in the region occurred in 1762 and the first mine was established in 1775 near Pittston 3 In 1791 anthracite was discovered by a hunter atop Pisgah Ridge and by 1792 the Lehigh Coal amp Navigation Company began producing and shipping coal to Philadelphia via Mauch Chunk from the Southern Anthracite Field and Summit Hill built atop the line between Schuylkill County and what would be renamed Carbon County By 1818 customers fed up with the inconsistent mismanagement leased the Lehigh Coal Mining Company and founded the Lehigh Navigation Company construction soon began for navigation the locks and dams on the Lehigh River rapids stretches later known as the Lehigh Canal finished in 1820 In 1822 the two companies merged as the Lehigh Coal amp Navigation Company LC amp N and by 1824 the company was shipping large volumes of coal down the Lehigh and Delaware Canals Meanwhile three brothers had similar ideas from near the turn of the century and about the same time began mining coal in Carbondale 15 miles 24 1 km northeast of Scranton but high enough to run a gravity railroad to the Delaware River and feed New York City via the Delaware and Hudson Canal Pennsylvania began the Delaware Canal to connect the Lehigh Canal to Philadelphia and environs while funding to build a canal across the Appalachians Allegheny Mountains to Pittsburgh In 1827 LC amp N built the second railroad in the country a gravity railroad from Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway running Summit Hill to Mauch Chunk Population rapidly grew in the period following the American Civil War with the expansion of the mining and railroad industries English Welsh Irish and German immigrants formed a large portion of this increase followed by Polish Slovak Ruthenian Ukrainian Hungarian Italian Russian Jewish 4 and Lithuanian immigrants The influence of these immigrant populations is still strongly felt in the region with various towns possessing pronounced ethnic characters and cuisine The anthracite mining industry loomed over the region until its decline in the 1950s Strip mines and fires most notably in Centralia remain visible Several violent incidences spelling in the history of the U S labor movement occurred within the coal region as this was the location of the Lattimer Massacre and the home of the Molly Maguires 5 The Knox Mine Disaster in 1959 served as the death knell for deep mining which faded away in the mid 1960s 6 almost all current anthracite mining is done via strip mining Tours of underground mines can be taken in Ashland Scranton and Lansford each of them also having museums dedicated to the mining industry Also evident are patch towns small villages affiliated with a particular mine These towns were owned by the mining company Though no longer company owned many hamlets survive one of them the Eckley Miners Village is a museum and preserved historical town owned and administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission which seeks to restore patch towns to their original state Geography EditFurther information Geography of Pennsylvania nbsp The Coal Region s route to New York City which ultimately served as the foundation for the Delaware and Hudson Railway and inspired the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal in 1872The Coal Region lies north of the Lehigh Valley and Berks County regions south of the Endless Mountains west of the Pocono Mountains and east of the Susquehanna Valley The region lies at the northern edge of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians and draws its name from the vast deposits of anthracite coal that can be found under several of the valleys in the region The Wyoming Valley is the most densely populated of these valleys and contains the cities of Wilkes Barre Greater Pittston and Scranton Hazleton and Pottsville are two of the larger cities in the southern portion of the region The Lehigh and Schuylkill rivers both originate within the region while the much larger Susquehanna River skirts the northern edge Academics have made the distinction between the North Anthracite Coal Field and the South Anthracite Coal Field 7 the lower region bearing the further classification Anthracite Uplands 8 in physical geology The Southern Coal Region can be further broken into the Southeastern and Southwestern Coal Regions with the divide between the Little Schuylkill River and easternmost tributary of the Schuylkill River with the additional divide line from the Lehigh River watershed extended through Barnesville the determining basins County 2010 Population 2015 Population AreaCarbon County 65 249 63 960 387 sq mi 1 002 km2 Columbia County 67 295 66 672 490 sq mi 1 269 km2 Lackawanna County 214 437 211 917 465 sq mi 1 204 km2 Luzerne County 320 918 318 449 906 sq mi 2 350 km2 Northumberland County 94 528 93 246 478 sq mi 1 238 km2 Schuylkill County 148 289 144 590 783 sq mi 2 028 km2 Total 910 716 898 834 3 509 sq mi 9 088 km2 People EditNotable people from the Coal RegionNick Adams actor Joe Amato five time NHRA Top Fuel Champion Drag Racer Gary Becker Nobel Prize winning economist 1992 Joe Biden 46th President of the United States David Bohm quantum physicist George Bretz 1842 1895 photographed the Coal Region Les Brown jazz musician Bill Bufalino attorney Ben Burnley lead singer of rock band Breaking Benjamin P J Carlesimo professional basketball coach San Antonio Spurs Robert P Casey former Governor of Pennsylvania Bob Casey Jr U S Senator George Catlin artist Jimmy Cefalo professional football player Miami Dolphins Stan Coveleski Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Anthony P Damato United States Marine Medal of Honor recipient Jack Dolbin professional football player Denver Broncos Jimmy Dorsey jazz clarinetist saxophonist big band leader Tommy Dorsey jazz trombonist big band leader Ellen Albertini Dow actress The Wedding Singer s Rapping Granny Ham Fisher cartoonist Daniel J Flood U S Congressman Alexander Joseph Foley United States Marine Medal of Honor recipient Howard Gardner scientist author James M Gavin Lieutenant General United States Army Jimmy Gownley author illustrator cartoonist Tim Holden former U S Congressman Henry Hynoski professional football player for the New York Giants Jane Jacobs sociologist author Russell Johnson actor John E Jones III judge George Joulwan Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 1993 to 1997 Paul E Kanjorski member of Congress Jean Kerr author Eddie Korbich actor Matthew Lesko infomercial personality Edward B Lewis Nobel Prize winning scientist Joe Maddon manager of the Chicago Cubs Joseph L Mankiewicz film director producer and screenwriter Richard Marcinko Navy Seal author Christy Mathewson professional baseball player Francis T McAndrew Psychologist Professor Author Mary McDonnell actress Gerry McNamara college basketball player Syracuse University Jason Miller Pulitzer Prize winning playwright actor Mike Munchak professional football coach and former professional football player Jozef Murgas radio pioneer Amedeo Obici founder of the Planters Peanuts Company John O Hara author Jim O Neill former baseball player Steve O Neill former baseball player Jack Palance actor William Daniel Phillips Nobel Prize winning scientist Joe Pisarcik former NFL quarterback Darryl Ponicsan author screenwriter Robert Reich former U S Secretary of Labor Paul W Richards former astronaut Conrad Richter author Hugh Rodham father of Hillary Rodham Clinton Tim Ruddy former professional football player Miami Dolphins Victor Schertzinger composer film director film producer and screenwriter William Scranton former Governor of Pennsylvania and 1964 U S Presidential candidate William Scranton III former Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania B F Skinner psychologist radical behaviorist Harvard professor and author Jimmy Spencer former NASCAR driver and current TV analyst Bob Sura former NBA basketball player Charley Trippi played for Pittston Patriots NFL Hall of Fame John Anthony Walker spy for the Soviet Union Ed Walsh former professional baseball player Chicago White SoxSee also EditEckley Miners Village Franklin B Gowen Major coal producing regions Schuylkill CanalReferences Edit Carpenito Thomas 2019 The State of Coal and Renewable Energy in Schuylkill County https medium com thomascarpenito3 state of coal and renewable energy in schuylkill f8850fec3fa6 a b see facts cited and cites of American Heritage book of Indians 1961 in articles Iroquois Susquehannock http www msha gov district dist 01 history history htm 7Cwork The Archived 2012 03 24 at the Wayback Machine U S Department of Labor publisher Mine Safety and Health Administration Many descents of openly Jewish immigrants were born in e g Luzerne County alone per JewishGen and Ancestry com Thomas Keil Jacqueline M Keil 2014 Anthracite s Demise and the Post Coal Economy of Northeastern Pennsylvania Lehigh University Press pp 15 ISBN 978 1 61146 176 3 Karen Ahlquist 2006 Chorus and Community University of Illinois Press p 225 ISBN 978 0 252 07284 0 Healey Richard 2005 The Breakers of the Northern Anthracite Coalfield of Pennsylvania Vol 1 Major breakers prior to 1902 Dept of Geography University of Portsmouth Portsmouth Northern Anthracite Coalfield of Pennsylvania implying there is a Southern Anthracite Coalfield of Pennsylvania Sevon W D compiler 2000 Physiographic provinces of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Geological Survey of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Pennsylvania Geological Survey 4th ser Map 13 scale 1 2 000 000 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carbon County Pennsylvania nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lackawanna County Pennsylvania nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Luzerne County Pennsylvania nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northumberland County Pennsylvania nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Schuylkill County Pennsylvania nbsp Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Coal Region Coal Mine Region The Carpathian Connection Pennsylvania s Northern Coal Field A collection of nostalgia and regionalisms from the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania The Anthracite Coal region Map of the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania History of anthracite coal mining Abandoned Anthracite Mines in PA Brief history of the Molly Maguires A Jewel In the Crown of Old King Coal Eckley Miners Village by Tony Wesolowsky Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine Volume XXII Number 1 Winter 1996 A website with extensive detail on and a virtual tour of Eckley Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Coal Region amp oldid 1172299509, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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