Coal Region

The Coal Region is a term used to refer to an area of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the central Appalachian Mountains comprising Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, and the extreme northeast corner of Dauphin counties.

The region's population was 890,121 people as of the most recent census. Many of the names in the region are from the Delaware Indians or Lenapes and Susquehanna native American Indians. The region is home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal found in the Americas, with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons (PA DEP Website). It is these deposits that provide the region with its nickname. The discovery of anthracite coal was first made in the lower Anthracite coal region of Carbon County, Pennsylvania.

Geography

The 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, though the Susquehanna River passes through the Wyoming Valley located within the coal region in the central Appalachian Mountains. The Wyoming Valley is the most densely populated area of the region, containing the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. Hazleton and Pottsville are two of the larger cities in the southern portion of the region. The headwaters of the Lehigh and Schuylkill Rivers both lie within the region.

History and miscellany

Settlement in the region predates the American Revolution, however the discovery of the anthracite coal for which it is named did not occur until the early nineteenth century. 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 and Lithuanian immigrants. The influence of these immigrant populations is still strongly felt in the region, with various towns possessing pronounced ethnic characters and ethnic food.

The anthracite mining industry loomed over much of the region until its decline in the 1950s. Strip mines and evidence of mine fires such as the Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire are still visible throughout much of the area. Several of the more violent incidences in the history of the US labor movement occurred within the coal region as this was the location of the Lattimer Massacre and the home of the Molly Maguires.

The Knox Mine Disaster in 1959 essentially served as the death knell for deep mining within the region; 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 small towns, with populations typically less than 500, were solely owned by the mine; the resident miners were tenants, the general store was owned by the mining concern, and police were mine employees whose most prominent charge was to protect the coal from theft by the residents. Though no longer company owned, many such hamlets survive; one of them, the Eckley Miners' Village, is a historical park owned and administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, which seeks to restore patch towns to their original state.

Famous people from the Coal Region

• Nick Adams - Actor.
• Joe Biden - U.S. Vice President.
• David Bohm - quantum physicist.
• 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.
• Les Brown - jazz musican
• 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.
• Jane Jacobs - sociologist, author.
• Russell Johnson - actor.
• John E. Jones III - born in Pottsville in 1955, presided over the landmark Intelligent design case, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District in 2005.
• 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 Tampa Bay Rays.
• Christy Mathewson - former professional baseball player, New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants).
• Joseph L. Mankiewicz - film director, producer, and screenwriter.
• Richard Marcinko - Navy seal, author.
• Mary McDonnell - actress.
• Gerry McNamara - college basketball player, Syracuse University.
• Jason Miller - Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, actor.
• Mike Munchak, professional football coach, Tennessee Titans, former professional football player, Houston Oilers.
• Jozef Murgaš - radio pioneer.
• Amedeo Obici - founder of Planters Peanuts Company.
• John O'Hara - author.
• Jack Palance - actor.
• William Daniel Phillips - Nobel Prize-prize winning scientist.
• Joe Pisarcik - Former NFL Quarterback (NY Giants & Philadelphia Eagles) famous for his involvement in the "Miracle in the Meadowlands"
• Darryl Ponicsan - author, screenwriter.
• Robert Reich - former U.S. Secretary of Labor.
• Paul W. Richards - former astronaut.
• Conrad Richter - author.
• Hugh Rodham - father of U.S. Secretary of State, former U.S. Senator, and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
• Tim Ruddy - center for the Miami Dolphins from 1994 - 2003.
• Victor Schertzinger - composer, film director, film producer and screenwriter.
• William Scranton - former Governor of Pennsylvania, U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and 1964 U.S. Presidential candidate.
• William Scranton, III - former Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, two-time gubernatorial candidate.
• B. F. Skinner, Psychologist, Radical Behaviorist, Harvard Professor, and author.
• Jimmy Spencer - Former NASCAR Driver and Current TV Analyst for the Speed Channel
• Bob Sura - Houston Rockets NBA basketball player.
• John Anthony Walker - spy for the Soviet Union.
• Ed Walsh - former professional baseball player, Chicago White Sox.
• Joe Amato - 5-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion. Drag Racing

See also

• Eckley Miners' Village
• Franklin B. Gowen, president of the Reading Railroad who served as the lead prosecutor in the trial to break up the Molly Maguires.
• Shenandoah
• Hazleton
• Mahanoy
• Mahantongo
• Major coal producing regions
• Schuylkill Canal

External links

• Coal Region travel guide from Wikitravel
• History and culture of the coal region
• 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
• The Coal Region Burger Tour

Categories: Carbon County, Pennsylvania | Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania | Luzerne County, Pennsylvania | Northumberland County, Pennsylvania | Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania | Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania | Coal mining regions in the United States