My grand father and my uncles were all minors in Shickshinny Pennsylvania. They packed up and left for New Haven Connecticut somewhere in the late 1930s. Thank you for posting this video. I'm always looking for a great insight as to how they lived and how they worked.
My mom was born in and grew up in Shickshinny! I understand some of her ancestors were coal miners. She joked about "coal crackers." The breaker boys eventually became miners usually.
My Grandfather and Father both worked at the Ravens Run Coal Mine near Centralia, they lived in Brynsville also called The Patch, near Centralia. Both got Black Lung from years in the Coal Mines.
Very informative and clear. I'm researching coal mining for a historical novel, and you are one of few who explains this well for someone who knows little about the process. I really appreciate the details about the early mining methods. Thank you!
Live in Mount Carmel Pennsylvania and still heat my home with Anthracite. Mount Carmel was the first community in the world to have electric street lights and Thomas Edison built his 6th power plant in Mount Carmel.
Anthracite fields start much further North than Wilkes-Barre. More like 30-40 miles North, in Forest City (Susquehanna County), running down South through Carbondale, the Mid-Valley, Scranton and Old Forge (all of Lackawanna County) before entering Luzerne County.
I think my interest in anthracite comes from my interest in the railroads, ironically. The roads like the DL&W, Erie, Jersey Central, Reading, Lehigh Valley really also impacted the business, even smaller ones like the NYO&W and Lehigh & New England, I think it’d also be important to note the impact their decline they had on the industry in its decline, and the impact the mines had on the railroads.
I can understand that. I feel the same way. CSX still hauls millions of tons of coal out of WV every year. Since we have so much of it and better mining techniques today, I'd like to see more of it used to generate electricity.
An old time I spoke to years ago told me as a kid in the 30s they'd hop aboard slow moving coals trains on the DL&W out of Scranton and fetch a few buckets of the black diamonds to fire the cooking stove at home. Lackawanna also fueled their locomotives with the stuff mined right off railroad property.
Thank you so much for your prompt answer. Don't know why I'm not familiar with that town. I try to go out there ever so often to visit my grandparents' grave. My son and I tried exploring the abandoned mine, but it is just way to dangerous. My Nana always said that we didn't know how good a life we had. What an understatement.
If you buy an older house in the areas they mine, they have showers in the basements. For the man to shower off after working the mine all day, before going upstairs.
Yeah I have 4 generations from mid 1800s thru 1950 My ggfathers came and worked when they left Ireland. Worked the same mines with the Molly Maguires. And then up in Scranton with my grandfather. And that was the last generation.
