Located in the rich anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County was captured on film as early as the 1860s, when A.M. Allen set up Pottsville's first photography studio. The Historical Society of Schuylkill County has been collecting and preserving these images for the last 95 years, bringing history to life once again in the companion to their first two volumes. Schuylkill County Volume II includes the work of George M. Bretz, the famous "Photographer in the Mines," as well as a collection of postcard images that were popular in the early 20th century. View houses of...

The photographs in this book bring to life a bygone era, when Coal was King, and almost everyone who lived between Pottsville, Hazelton, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton was affected by the daily activity of coal mining. The development of the anthracite coal industry began in 1822 causing the "Coal Rush" of the 1820s and '30s and drawing thousands of new people to the area. The outstanding images contained in this visual history have been mined by Leo Ward and Mark Major from the rich seam of the Historical Society of Schuylkill County. These images--many of them rare and previously...

Schuylkill County is located in east central Pennsylvania in the rich southern fields of anthracite coal. The era when "coal was king" has long since passed, but the story of the development of the anthracite coal industry that fueled the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. has not been lost. The vivid details and nuances of local community life from the 1850s to the 1920s are brought to light in this wonderful collection. When Broad Mountain was conquered by the railroads and the Mahanoy plane was built, coal could be brought up over the mountain to reach its markets. The transportation that...