Misc: History of the County of Schuylkill By Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart



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                           History Of the County of Schuylkill









                         In honor of the County’s Centenary

                               July Second to Eighth

                            Nineteen hundred and eleven





                                 Compliments of

                             Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart

                                 Pottsville, Pa.

                             C. Geo. Miller, Manager









______________________________







Preface



The history of Schuylkill County is of such an inspiring nature that it can 

never loose its value by repetition, and, with this end in view, this book has been 

published.  Many important events have been told therein, which, we hope, will be of 

interest to young and old.



Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart



















SCHUYLKILL COUNTY



ITS EARLY HISTORY



Pioneer history of the State of Pennsylvania records the fact that Philadelphia was the 

first section of the state to form a permanent settlement.  It had a substantial, 

prosperous growth, and as civilization pushed North into the then known wilds of the 

interior, an interior in which the Indian roamed at will, some of these early 

adventurers returned to Philadelphia with tales of vast wealth in timber and minerals, 

hence it was but a short time before the new territory became populated with new 

owners, the streams became dotted with new homes upon its shores, the hills and valleys 

were tilled, and it was but a few years ere it became necessary for counties to be 

formed in order for law and justice to be near at hand and meted out to those who 

required or desired it.

( end of page 7)



NEW COUNTIES FORMED



County organization had been formed in at least seven instances, when those pioneers 

who had passed into the northern part of the then know Berks County, finding it 

inconvenient to go to that county to transact their legal affairs, circulated a 

petition to be presented to the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania setting forth 

in their prayer, that a new county be formed out of portions of Berks  and  Northampton 

Counties.



	These settlers, composed of men who could brave any storm, women who could stand 

any hardship, being God-fearing, peace-loving people, whom no Indian warrior, no 

hardship, could drive from their adopted hearthstone, handed their petition to those in 

authority, where it reached the hands of willing co-operators, and finally when it 

passed the Legislative body, Governor Simon Snyder attached his signature thereto, 

March 18, 1811, creating an Act which states, “that all that part of Berks County lying 

between the townships of Brunswick, Schuylkill, Manheim, Norwegian, Upper Mahantongo, 

Lower Mahantongo and Pinegrove; also the townships of West Penn and Rush in  

Northampton County, be formed into a new 



( end of page 8 )



county, the name of which shall be “Schuylkill.” It’s population was about 6,000.



	Thus Schuylkill County received its title owing to its harboring the headwaters 

of the Schuylkill River which flowed South to Philadelphia where it entered the 

Delaware River South of that city, forming the Delaware Bay, thence into the Atlantic 

Ocean.



THE COURT HOUSE PROVISO



	The act as passed contained a proviso that a Court House be erected in the new 

county in which justice could be administered, thereby saving litigants the time and 

expense of going many miles to the Berks county seat, and in order to further 

facilitate matters the enactment approved of a court of justice being established until 

such times as a court house could be erected.  The residence of Abraham Reiffsnyder, in 

Brunswick Township, was selected as a place in which to hold said court, and in 

December, 1811, the first session of court was held, commencing on the first Monday of 

the month, thereby setting in motion the official machinery of the county.



	At the first session of the court, ten lawyers were admitted to practice, and up 

to the present time, covering a period of a century, hundreds of

( end of page 9)



attorneys have been admitted to practice at the bar of justice.



	Orwigsburg was one of the first settlements in the county, Peter Orwig having 

located there, thus receiving the honor of being termed the first settler, the date of 

settlement being 1796. The town, however, was not incorporated until the year 1813, and 

when the question of erecting a Court House arose, the new county was confronted with 

formidable rivalry for the honors, Orwigsburg, McKeansburg, and Schuylkill Haven 

claiming it because of its similarity to the new county’s name, but McKeansburg and 

Orwigsburg likewise put forth strong claims, with the result that Orwigsburg finally 

won the coveted prize.



	Three Commissioners had been appointed by the Governor of the State to examine 

the claims of the various towns with the above result, though their task for a time 

seemed to be a difficult one.







SCHUYLKILL’S FIRST COURT HOUSE



	The first Court House was erected in Orwigsburg at a cost of $5,000 in 1815, the 

first session of court being held therein during the early part 

( end of page 10 )



of the year 1816. The building was enlarged in 1827, and again in 1846, which served 

the county in every respect until Pottsville, a town which had grown to huge 

proportions, decided it was a more suitable and convenient place for the county seat, 

and setting forth that it was inconvenient for litigants to be compelled to go to 

Orwigsburg to attend to their legal matters, another petition was procured praying the 

Legislature to change the county seat to Pottsville, and after at least 15 years delay, 

from 1831 to 1846, a successful attempt was made, the Act for which was finally passed 

by the Legislature and approved by the Governor, on March 13, submitting the question 

to the voters, the change being desired principally owing to the fact that the railroad 

and canal connections with Orwigsburg were not sufficient or convenient to carry the 

public to that town without losing valuable time, whilst Pottsville had excellent 

facilities, and was within easy access from all parts of the county.  Pottsville won at 

the election.



POTTSVILLE’S FIRST COURTHOUSE



	In 1851, after two years of labor, the new county seat placed at the disposal of

the public a

( end of page 11 )



Court House costing $30,000, December 1st of that year witnessing the removal of the 

county’s records from the Court House at Orwigsburg to the new one at Pottsville.



	This building served the purpose of the public until 1892, when the present 

handsome Court House on the corner of Minersville, Second and Sanderson streets was 

completed and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, the Third Brigade Band, of 

Pottsville, Prof. Frederick Gerhard, bandmaster, with thirty-two members, furnishing 

the music for the occasion, a vast concourse of people assembling for the purpose of 

witnessing the ceremonies. The new building, with equipment, costing nearly half a 

million dollars.



A NEW COUNTY PROPOSED



	Several attempts have been made to have parts of Schuylkill county, parts of 

Luzerne County, and parts of Carbon County detached from their respective counties with 

the idea of forming a new county, and when last presented before the Legislature, even 

though it had the sanction of the then great political leader, Matthew Stanley Quay, 

with the expectation of naming the new county in his honor, the project was frustrated 

by the



( end of page 12)

bitter opposition of the residents of Schuylkill County.



COUNTY PRISON



	In 1851 the county having insufficient accommodation for prisoners, it was 

necessary to build a prison, which was done at a cost of $70,000, and is located on 

Sanderson Street, Pottsville, occupying one city block, from Second to Third streets, 

and from Sanderson to Harrison Streets. The building has been enlarged and otherwise 

remodelled until today it is a structure which cost the county nearly $120,000, having 

all modern conveniences.





COUNTY ALMSHOUSE



In 1831, an Act passed the legislature designating Schuylkill county as a poor 

district, hence it became necessary to procure a site and erect an Almshouse, when a 

tract of land in North Manheim Township, adjoining the Borough of Schuylkill haven, was 

purchased at a cost of $6,000, but later additions to the property added ground which 

finally totals 283 acres. A building was erected in 1833, which has been added to, and 

other small buildings erected until a series of buildings was the result, and although 

it cost the county a sum almost equal to one quarter of a

( end of page 13)



million dollars. It was entirely inadequate for the purpose, hence the county entered 

upon a new era of County Almshouse history when it decided to erect a new Almshouse 

Insane Hospital and for that purpose on May 19, 1911, bonds approximating half a 

million dollars were sold to the highest bidder, the proceeds to be used for the 

building project.   The interest on bonds to be at the rate of four percentum per 

annum, free of tax.

( end of page 14)





EXCELLENT WAR HISTORY



“MIGHTY MEN WERE THEY”



Schuylkill County can point with pride to its magnificent war history.



	When the call to arms sounded during the Revolution period, and General George 

Washington was clamoring for men and arms, the cry was heard throughout the hills and 

valleys of this section of the country prior to its becoming a county, and in 1777, the 

Pennsylvania Archives records the names of soldiers who enlisted from what is now the 

southwestern section of our county (the location being Pinegrove).



	In the Indian Wars, the inhabitants responded to the call again and served 

their country faithfully.



	During the War with Mexico in the year 1846, following the call of the Governor 

of the State for troops, the Washington Artillary, a company of young men who had 

organized themselves into

( end of page 15)



a military company, offered their services, and were accepted. They were mustered into 

the service of the Government as Company B, First Penna. Volunteers. They served with 

distinction under the banner of  General Winfield S. Hancock, a Philadelphia general of 

national fame, and when peace was declared after the submission of Mexico, the young 

men returned to their homes and were received with great honors.  Col. Daniel Nagle, 

residing on West Norwegian street, Pottsville, is one of the survivors of this 

campaign.



THE FIRST DEFENDERS



	When the shot was fired on Fort Sumter that re-echoed around the world, on April 

12, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln’s call on April 15, 1861, for volunteers for three 

months, was answered by Schuylkill County in a manner that must have given great 

encouragement to that greatest of statesmen and war presidents, when marching up 

Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, the National Capital, five hundred and sixty men, two 

hundred and fifty of whom were from Schuylkill county, announced the fact that they 

were there to maintain the integrity of the nation.   They were the First Defenders, 

composed of the 

( end of page 16)



Washington Artillery and National Light Infantry, of Pottsville, and in order to reach 

the Capital, had passed through a trying ordeal in the city of Baltimore, where mobs 

hurled sticks, stones and missiles of every description upon them, but orders had been 

issued by their commanders to submit to the persecution in order to reach the coveted 

goal, where they would be equipped with arms and uniforms. They arrived April 18th, 

1861.



	In their ranks that day was a colored man, and when felled with a missile, 

Nicholas Biddle was made famous and the first man to shed blood for his country during 

the awful struggle which followed the firing upon Fort Sumter, compelling Major 

Anderson to lower the nation’s colors.



	Nicholas Biddle was a Schuylkill county man residing in Pottsville and was 

accompanying the soldier boys to assist in the camp duties when they arrived at Camp 

Curtin, Washington.



	Thus it was that the first blood shed in the war was the blood of a colored 

man, the cause of the war being the freedom of the colored race.



	The term of the First Defenders was now drawing to a close, and the Secretary 

of War being a Pennsylvanian, and like all his countrymen resenting the right of 

the Southern States to secede,

( end of page 17)



the war governor as he was termed, Governor Andrew G.Curtin, advocated the call for 

an army of half a million; however, his method of pushing the war was not 

immediately accepted, although a large army was being mobilized, and in the fall of 

1861, a call was sent forth for volunteers for three years, or the war.







ONE - SEVENTH OF POPULATION AT WAR



Schuylkill county again showed her patriotism and sent armies to the front in rapid 

succession, until peace was concluded.  It was found that out of a population of almost 

91,000 she had sent forth one-seventh of her inhabitants, or 13,000.

 

A wonderful record it was, and one that received the plaudits of the entire country.  

The blood that was shed from the veins of her beloved sons was not shed in vain.  The 

widows who were left to mourn the loss of husband and father, reared their children in 

a manner that has become the wonder of the century; the mothers and fathers who lost 

their sons upon the battlefield, many to find unknown graves, have borne their sorrow 

with fortitude, and as the wounds of the long Civil War have become healed by the span 

of time, there is a growing friendship for the erring

(  end of page 18 )



brothers of the South, and today the North and South are marching side by side in the 

Centennial Celebration of the County of Schuylkill, in the City of Pottsville.



	About this time in the history of the county, business circles were floundering 

around for a steady foundation.  The war had caused an inflated valuation upon all 

commodities, and as the sons of the nation were returning from the war and again 

seeking employment, the shops and factories opened their doors and started business 

life anew.



E.R. MORRIS BUILDING CHANGES OWNERSHIP

	

In 1892, Josiah Dives and Geo.S. Pomeroy trading as Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart, bought 

for their growing department store the R.R. Morris building, the largest and most 

valuable mercantile property in Pottsville.



	Who can imagine the memories associated with this historical building?  It was 

the rendezvous for the old soldiers returning from the war, and here the tales of the 

days of ’61 to ’65 were told and retold as they sat around the imaginary camp fires on 

the fourth floor of this grand building. The bivouac was many times attended by famous 

warriors

( end of page 19)



who came to hear again the stories of how the First Defenders responded to the call of 

Father Abraham, how the 48th and the 96th, and many other famous Schuylkill Regiments 

time and again passed through the line of fire, and at every recall there was some of 

the numbers found missing, and as the lines closed up, with aching hearts, those 

remaining went forth again to do battle for their beloved country.



	So it was with every regiment of the county, among the number being the 

following:

	5th Regiment - Co.’s C, E and I;

	6th Regiment - Co.’s B, C, D, E, F, G,G, H;

	9th Regiment - Co.’s H, K;

	10th Regiment - G and Washington Light Infantry, Pinegrove;

	14th Regiment - Co. B;

	16th Regiment - Co.’s A, B,D, E,I, Schuylkill Guards, Minersville;

	27th Regiment - Co.’s A,B,C, E, G, I;

	28th Regiment - Forty men;

	39th Regiment - Entirely from Schuylkill County;

	40th Regiment - Thirty men;

	48th Regiment - Entirely from Schuylkill County; Officers, Band, &c. complete;

	

( end of page 20)

	

50th Regiment - Co.’s A,B,C,D,E,F,I, K;

	52nd Regiment - Fifty men;

	53rd Regiment - Co.’s C,F,H,I;

	55th Regiment - Co.’s E, and part B and C;

	56th Regiment - Co. K;

	60th Regiment - Co. I;

	65th Regiment - Fifth Calvary entire;

	67th Regiment - Co. K

	70th Regiment - Sixth Calvary entire;

	75th Regiment - About 40 men;

	76th Regiment - About 40 men;

	80th Regiment - Co.’s A,E,F,G, I,L;

	81st Regiment - About 30 men;

	93rd Regiment - About 30 men;

	96th Regiment - Entirely from Schuylkill County; Officers, Band, &c., complete;

	99th Regiment - Seventy-five men;

	104th Regiment - Party only from Schuylkill ;

	108th Regiment - Eleventh Calvary;

	116th Regiment - Co. F;

	13th Calvary - About 70 men;

	127th Regiment - One man Co. C and K;

	129th Regiment - Co. A,B,E,G,H;

	137th Regiment - Co.K;

	151st Regiment - Part Co. I;

	161st Regiment - 16th Calvary 84 men;

( end of page 21)



	162nd Regiment - 17th Calvary  Co. A; part Co. F;

	173rd Regiment - Co.’s A,D, F, H;

	184th Regiment - Part Co. F;

	194th Regiment - Co.’s A,C, F, H;

      210th Regiment - One man Co. H, Co. E;

      214th Regiment - Co.C.



There is scarcely to be found anywhere an accurate list of the Schuylkill County 

soldiers who served in every branch of the army during the terrible struggle. They 

served their country well whether in the uniform of a sailor, a cavalryman, an 

artilleryman, and infantryman, and though thousands of homes were rent and torn, the 

struggle was not in vain, for the last half century has shown conclusively to the world 

at large that it was wise to preserve the unity of the country even at the awful price 

paid.



“I will exalt thee; I will praise thee;

For thou hast done most wonderful things.”





SPANISH WAR



Immediately the call to arms brought a ready response from Old Schuylkill.  The young 

boys again shouldered the musket, and although all of them did not reach foreign 

shores, they served their country to the best of their ability.

( end of page 22)



But a few of our Schuylkill County boys had the pleasure of getting close to the enemy 

during the war, but they served their country well, however, and received honorable 

discharges.

( end of page 23)







THE COAL INDUSTRY



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY LEADS



The delving into the earth’s surface for black diamonds is nowhere on the face 

of the glove found to be more scientifically prosecuted than in the county of 

Schuylkill.



	Historians record the fact that coal was known to exist in this section 

of Pennsylvania as far back as 1766; others claim that it was not known to exist 

until nine years later, but what every school boy and girl of the present day residing 

in the county of Schuylkill  does know, is, that coal it to be found here, and what the 

great railroad corporations, and individual operators know about this deposit is, that 

it exists in quantities to make the successful prosecutor a millionaire in a few short 

years, and that if a streak of hard luck is experienced in the prosecuting of the 

elusive veins, at times, it will make a pauper of the millionaire in a few short years, 

and there are both classes of these citizens known to exist in our midst.

( end of page 24)



	The huge culm banks that years ago were thought to be worthless refuse, have 

alone made millionaires of those who discovered its steam-producing qualities, hence it 

has been loaded upon wagons - mine wagons, sent up to the “Tip” of the breaker, dumped 

into the proper channels in many instances in order to give it as thorough a cleansing 

as possible, removing therefrom the rock and slate in the best possible manner, and 

what was years ago considered the smallest size of coal, namely, Pea Coal, has now 

become one of the most staple articles upon the market, and the sizes now run as low as 

“Barley” and in some cases the finest of culm is now washed by a stream of force 

through a hose, washed directly into the railroad cars holding from seventy to one 

hundred tons, and sent to factories, where it is used for steam producing purposes.









RUSH FOR WEALTH



	Tales of fabulous wealth to be gained by entering the Anthracite coal industry, 

brought an influx of capitalists from all parts of the world to Schuylkill about the 

year 1820.



The principal means of travelling was the stage coach running from Philadelphia to 

Sunbury, having relay posts at various

(  end of page 25)



stations along the line.  The Center Turnpike, which is now the principal street of

Pottsville, was the best road between these two points.  The coming of the stage coach 

was the principal event of the week, as it brought with it news from the business and 

social centers of the United States, and now that people of wealth were coming to seek 

their fortunes in the coal mining industry, the public were worked up to a fever heat.



	Pottsville had mines dotted along its hillsides; Mill Creek to the East was one 

of the most successful points thus far worked;  Port Carbon, the termination of the 

Schuylkill Navagation Company’s Canal, was the most prominent port, and a visit to that 

town will find abandoned mines on the hillsides that were worked above the water levels 

at the time mentioned above.  The coal was never found in sufficient quantities to 

warrant the vast outlay of money the present day method of mining requires, but some 

future day will find a valuable deposit of coal waiting the prospector. These veins are 

said to be of free burning quality.



	In order to get the output of the mines to the Schuylkill Navigation Company 

Canal, Mr. Abraham Pott constructed a railroad one mile in length from Mill Creek to 

the Schuylkill River at 

( end of  page 26 )



Black Valley, which is said to be two years prior to the building of the Mill Creek 

Railroad, which was completed in 1829 and running from Port Carbon four miles up Mill 

Creek Valley, having three miles of branches.  Mr. Pott was a resident of Pottsville, 

and is given the honor of being the pioneer railroad operator of this section.





STEPHEN GIRARD IN REGION



	The following year, 1830, Stephen Girard entered the county of Schuylkill coal 

fields.



	As history records, he purchased coal properties valued at $30,000, and the value 

of coal removed from the bowels of the earth by his industry is perhaps incalculable, 

even thought it might be possible for the Girard Estate, of Philadelphia, to 

approximate the amount of hard cash handled by that great organization since the death 

of  the great pioneer of the Mahanoy Valley.



He came to that section of the country when the Mahanoy Creek was a silvery stream of 

water in which abounded the finny tribes of many varieties.  Its banks were dotted with 

the virgin growth of centuries.



The waters lapped the overhanging branches of the healthy growing trees and shrubbery, 

and as the stream rushed on towards the

( end of page 27 )



Susquehanna, it carried with it health, and beauty to every living thing.



	The famous Girard tunnel at Mahanoy Plane poured forth millions to its possessor,

and as the refuse was piled mountain high upon the valley and hillside, other 

operations likewise poured its refuse upon miles of hillsides, until half a century 

later, all vegetation in the once beautiful  valley had succumbed to the crave for 

black diamonds, and the stream became a stream of silt and filth, its woods had 

disappeared for mine timber, and what would have grown forth for future generations was 

choked to death by the silt that was left to wash from the hills down into the stream, 

raisin its bed to an alarming height, and  the homes that had dotted its shores were 

now left desolate, abandoned, until time mercifully removed them from the eye of the 

passerby, and Ashland, Girardville, Mahanoy Plane, Maizeville, Gilberton, Mahanoy City 

and the little towns and villages were compelled to keep away from the shore of the 

stream, for Spring freshets yearly claimed its toll of destruction to homes and there 

is naught to save the hillsides from becoming bare save the once despised laurel which 

is now looked upon as a flower placed there by a kind act of Providence to show to 

future generations of that valley a diminutive tree that has withstood the ravages of 

the coal industry, and what might have been if nature had been protected by man.





THE FIRST RAILROADS

	

The Mount Carbon Railroad ran along the Norwegian Creek a distance of seven miles, and 

was used to ship the coal product from various mines along its tracks to the Schuylkill 

Navigation Company in 1831.



	The rails of all roads at this time consisted of wooden rails, with strap iron 

spiked or screwed onto the wooden rails in order to prevent too much wear upon the 

wood.  This acted as a fairly safe method of hauling coal when a shipment of possibly 

ten or fifteen tons were shipped at one time, and Stephen Girard had sufficient wealth 

to connect his Mahanoy Plane and Girardville operations with a railroad starting at the 

mines, and erecting an incline plane from that point to Frackville, hoisting the card 

up one at a time, and then making up a train, running it along this railroad over a 

comparatively level tract for about two miles to the head of the grade, where it ran 

along what is now the public road running south in the

(  end of page 29 )



direction of New Castle, where another inclined plane was erected, down which the cars 

were run to a point where it could again be run a long distance down an easy grade, and 

again incline planes and levels until Pottsville was reached, where the product was 

loaded upon coal boats and shipped down the Schuylkill River, and if necessary out  

Delaware Bay to the Atlantic and shipped thence to any part of the world.



	The Little Schuylkill Railroad ran to Tamaqua and at its completion in 1831 a 

grand gathering of residents of that section of the county held a monster jubilation 

meeting to commemorate the event.



	For a time the coal industry was making wonderful strides, but a depression 

occurred at regular intervals and great distress was felt by the miners and their 

“butties” at these intervals.



	The first strike of which there is any authentic record, occurred in the region 

when in 1835 the boat men on the Schuylkill Navigation Company Canal caused a general 

tie-up for several weeks.



	In 1839 the output of coal from the region reached high water mark and soon the 

necessity for better railroad facilities was made manifest.

(  end of page 30 )





P. AND R. ENTERS REGION



	In the year 1842 the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company were granted a 

charter to enter the region, and it was not long before greater railroad facilities 

than every before contemplated was the result.



	The first railroad station in Pottsville is still at a point near the Mount 

Carbon arch, having been used as a warehouse for many years after being abandoned as a 

passenger station.  Although not very pretentious in appearance to the present 

generation, it held many a famous National character, either in financial or social 

affairs, who had come to inspect the coal region, learn the character of its people, 

its business men, and its political desires.



	The old Mansion House, which also is still standing in Mount Carbon, was a great 

resort for people of wealth, and the grand old hills surrounding this property at Mount 

Carbon could unfold many a tale of adventure of the heart or purse if its trees and 

shrubbery could unfold the scenes to human ears.  In the days of that grand old man, 

Henry Clay, National politics were freely discussed by men who revered that honored and 

respected statesman.

(  end of page 31 )



	The old Mansion House was looked upon as a health resort during the height of its 

prosperity, but not many years elapsed before the trend of civilization was toward the 

North and East, hence Mount Carbon soon lost its popularity, and some years later the 

Philadelphia  & Reading Railroad terminal and station was transferred to the corner of 

Union and Railroad streets, Pottsville, where it remained for many years, the station, 

however, being abandoned for passengers in 1887-8, when the present station was built 

at the corner of East Norwegian and Railroad Streets, and the old station used as  a 

freight station.



MINERS TROUBLES

	

During the succeeding years, labor troubles occurred owing to the varying conditions of 

the coal market.



	For several months of the year  the miners averaged fairly good returns for their 

labor, but a depression in the industry caused a suspension of work, and though good 

wages resulted when work was plentiful, a miner is generally found to be liberal to a 

fault, so that the days of plenty were enjoyed whilst the days of want were extremely 

exasperating, and as the coal operators had organized

(  end of page 32 )



to protect their interests, the miners reasoned that if it was good for the operator, 

it might be good for the miner, hence in the year 1868 the Workingmen’s Benevolent 

Association was organized, but as it was impossible for the miner to retain his 

position if he was a member, their deliberations were generally held in secret places, 

until their strength was sufficient to make demands, which was attempted in the 

following year, which lasted four months with but little success, owing to the fact 

that when the miners in the Schuylkill region went on strike, the miners from the upper 

coal regions came to operate the collieries, until, after a time, it was found that the 

upper regions went on strike, and the lower region miners went up there to take their 

positions, hence it was not a successful termination in every instance, but the 

organization of the miners today is a powerful one, and in recent years has assisted 

the men in various ways in gaining recognition from the railroad and coal corporations.





MOLLIE MAGUIRES



	In 1873, the organization know as the Mollie Maguires, Ribbon Men, or the White 

Boys, as variously termed, had created so much havoc

(  end of page 33 )



throughout the county, that Mr. Franklin B. Gowen, President of the Philadelphia & 

Reading Railway Company, and the Philadelphia & Reading Coal Company, called upon the 

Allan Pinkerton Detective Agency to “bring evidence before the Courts of this and 

adjoining Counties whereby convictions could be successfully prosecuted against this 

organization, which has committed murders innumerable, and every time the cases are 

brought before the courts, convenient alibis are produced whereby the criminals escape 

justice.”



	The method of the Mollie Maguires seemed to be the doing away of every mine boss 

in the coal region that did not favor members of their organization in preference to 

men in other walks of life.  It appears that the organization was transplanted here 

from Ireland, presumably brought about by opposition to the lords of that country, and 

the crimes were committed by some stranger brought to the region for that purpose, and 

after the crime was committed, the trail was lost, as alibis were promptly presented 

for every person accused.



	The Pinkerton Agency employed Detective James McParlan of New York, to come to 

the county in 

( end of page 34 )



disguise as a tramp, work his way into the hearts of the Irishmen who were thought to 

be interested in the organization, and for three years, until his disguise was 

penetrated, he had secured evidence of every murder, prevented some attempted murders, 

and finally when accused of being a detective, decided to go upon the stand, resulting 

in the conviction of several of the ringleaders of the order, who were hung in 

Schuylkill county for crimes committed there.



	Other murderers were hung in adjoining counties through the work of Detective 

McParlan, who was known as James McKenna whilst securing evidence.



	The Mollie Maguires were thrown in such disorder, that they disbanded and never 

again entered into the history of the county.





COUNTY INSTITUTIONS



	The Miners’ Hospital, located at Fountain Springs, near Ashland, is an 

institution which was established by an Act of the Legislature in 1879, since which 

time it has treated injured persons from the coal mines to the number of thousands.  

Its corridors are usually overflowing with injured

( end of page 35 )



patients who receive the best medical and surgical attention it is possible to obtain.  

The institution is regarded as one of the best of its kind in the country.



	The Pottsville Hospital is an institution that is maintained by the assistance of 

the State of Pennsylvania, supplemented by the personal gifts of the citizens of 

Pottsville and this section of the county.  It had done good work since its 

incorporation and fills a long felt want, for previous to its incorporation there was 

no place to take injured employees from the many railroads in the lower section of the 

county.



The Children’s Home, located at Agricultural Park, Pottsville, is an institution which 

cares for orphan children, and it rarely finds the number of dependents within its 

doors to be below a score or more.  It is maintained by the free will offerings of the 

people, supplemented by appropriation from the State Legislature.  Its work is a 

commendable one.







OLD SCHUYLKILL CANAL



The old Schuylkill Navigation Company Canal was opened for traffic to Mount Carbon in 

the year 1825.

(  end of page 36 )



Owing to the demand for some means whereby coal could be shipped over the canal from 

the coal workings, now becoming busy industries beyond Mill Creek, and extension to 

that place was made in the year 1828.



From the year 1832 to 1842, the region was enjoying unlimited prosperity, and owing to 

still further demands being made for greater facilities for the handling of coal, in 

1846 it was still further enlarged and points along its route were made to accommodate 

larger coal barges.



Everything was moving along nicely until the year of 1850 brought with it great floods, 

resulting in the destroying of the canal locks, huge foundations being broken down, the 

dams along the canal bursting through their banks, doing incalculable damage.



In 1865 railroad interests were working with the idea of securing the right of the 

canal, and after years of opposition to the monopoly, the Legislature, on  March 21, 

1865, granted certain privileges to the Philadelphia & Reading corporation, and in 1879 

the canal was abandoned to points beyond Port Clinton.  This was a great error for the 

residents of the county to tolerate, for it choked off all competition in the handling 

of

( end of page 37 )



freight between Pottsville and Philadelphia, and along canal routes on the Atlantic 

coast.



	Within the past two years agitation has been brought about with the hope of again 

having the canals of the Atlantic coast opened up for traffic, arguing that with an 

Inland Canal route, in case of war with a foreign nation, the canals could transact 

business from the New England coast to points in the far south without the shipping 

interests of the country being disturbed.





SCHUYLKILL’S RAILROAD AND TROLLY FACILITIES



	It has been said, and perhaps with some foundation, that Schuylkill county has 

more railroads and railroad connections than any territory of the same dimensions in 

the United States, due to its coal mining industries, which require railroad 

connections with the main lines in order to ship their product to far distant points.



	As noted in another part of this history, the Philadelphia & Reading company was 

the first corporation to enter the Anthracite coal fields on an extensive plan.  The 

officers had learned somewhat

( end of  page 38 )



about the immense fortunes to be found under the surface, and after purchasing small 

lines between 1830 and 1840 they finally consolidated these interests and in 1844 were 

granted a charter to enter Pottsville, prior to which time the station was located in 

Mount Carbon.



	The station at the corner of Union Company had placed every obstacle in the way 

of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for several years, in order to keep them out of 

this region, but their efforts were frustrated, as the Pennsylvania succeeded in 

gaining a foothold in 1884-5, erecting a station at the corner of East Norwegian and 

Coal streets, Pottsville.



	This caused the Philadelphia & Reading to procure an uptown-site, which was done 

by purchasing the properties at the corner of East Norwegian and Railroad streets, and 

in 1886-7 they built the station which is still in use.



	The Pennsylvania - Schuylkill Valley Division  was therefore the means of 

procuring better station facilities from the Philadelphia & Reading,

(  end of page 39 )



for the station at Union Street was not well adapted to the use of the travelling 

public.



	It was necessary for the travelling public to go up the flight of steps on Union 

Street, procure their ticket, and await the call informing them what train was about to 

depart, when it was necessary to go down a long flight of steps to gain the platform 

located on a lower floor on Railroad Street.



	This station is now used as the freight department of the company.  It is an 

admirable location for this business, and the shed in the rear of the building makes it 

convenient at all times and conditions of weather for the handling of freight.



	When the Pennsylvania-Schuylkill Valley Railroad was projected, there was general 

rejoicing by the public because of the excellent facilities it would afford the town 

both from the north and the south, and the many passengers coming from the north at the 

present time shows it to be well patronized by the Schuylkill people.



Prior to their entrance into the county, all of this traffic was done on the 

Philadelphia & Reading, hence the bitter opposition displayed.



	Now, however, all semblance of bitterness has vanished, and the lion and the lamb 

lie down

(end of  page 40 )



together in perfect peace in contentment, and the public pays the toll.



	Between both railroads, the county is thoroughly well honeycombed with railroads; 

however, the Lehigh Valley traverses sections of the county, but for several years has 

not entered the former stopping point in Pottsville - the Pennsylvania station on Coal 

Street, although one train daily runs in and out of Pottsville between this point and 

Lizzard Creek Junction which connects with the New York fast trains.



	The trolley service of the county is excellent.



	The People’s Railway was chartered in 1865, and ran a horse car line between 

Mount Carbon and Twelfth Street, also out to Fishbach in Pottsville.  At Twelfth Street 

a steam railroad carried passengers to and fro from Minersville, the road not being in 

operation, however, until 1872.



	The Schuylkill Electric Railway Company was organized in 1889.  This company 

passed into the hands of the Eastern Pennsylvania Railways Company which now operates a 

trolley system running from Heckscherville through Pottsville, the central 

headquarters, to Mauch Chunk, and with the exception of a two mile break in the chain, 

(  end of page 41 )



beyond that point, connects with a system that leads into the city of Philadelphia.



	The Schuylkill Traction Railway operates in the Mahanoy Valley from Locust Dale, 

through Ashland, Girardville, Mahanoy Plane, Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, with branches in 

various directions.



A FAMILY OF MERCHANTS



	The Morris Family of this section of the county originated from the Philadelphia 

branch, one of their number becoming a National character through his saving the 

country’s credit during the struggles with England in the series of wars ending in 

1812.



	The Declaration of Independence contains the signature of Robert Morris, the 

above mentioned gentleman, who in the space of four years had become the country’s most 

able financier.



	He was appointed by Congress as Treasurer, owing to his ability in projecting the 

National Bank of North America, being described as a man well versed in commerce and 

finance.  His idea was to provide $400,000, for the nation’s needs by disposing of 

share of $400 each, which was finally done with great satisfaction to all concerned, in

(  end of page 42 )



fact, it is historically noted that “ To the financial skill and indefatigable efforts

 of Mr. Morris in the Treasury Department, it has been thought this country was 

scarcely less indebted, than to the valour of her soldiers and the wisdom of her 

statesmen.  Immediately public credit revived, the army, the members of which had been 

clamoring for money and supplies, were now pacified, and new impulse was given to every 

operation in the field and cabinet.”



	From this family came Samuel Morris, a resident of Berks County, locating in 

Pottsville and entering business with his three sons.



	For a time they continued together, then in later years, each of the three sons 

started a business of his own, John S. going to Railroad Street between Race and 

Minersville streets, which was then a very prominent thoroughfare in town, the 

railroads running down that street from the various mine operations along the line from 

Guinea Hill to Wadesville.



	Samuel Morris conducted a store in the property formerly occupied by John 

Ginther, No. 218 North Centre Street.



	Richard R. Morris, the most able of the three sons, opened a store formerly 

occupied by Andrew

(  end of page 43 )



White, corner Centre and Mahantongo.  Some time later he erected a large building which 

was then the marvel of the times to the people of this locality, being the  property 

known as the Morris building, and which was purchased by the firm of Dives, Pomeroy & 

Stewart in 1892.



	Mr. Richard R. Morris was a great merchant, but when the inflated war prices sank 

to their normal level, and having financially aided other merchants in distress, he 

himself fell a victim to the times of reconstruction, and the handsome building, which 

is a monument to his enterprise passed out of his hands.



	Since passing into the hands of Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart, it has undergone 

decided changes and improvements.







STATE ROADS IN COUNTY





	The State of Pennsylvania enacted a law some time ago whereby assistance could be 

rendered by the state for the building of macadamized roads, providing these roads were 

made under the supervision of state officials.



	Schuylkill County has availed herself of this opportunity, and many miles of  

roads have been built since this enactment passed, and many more miles are 

contemplated.



	These roads are substantially made, and with but little care will give many years 

of service.  One stretch extends from Pottsville to Schuylkill Haven a distance of two 

miles, well rounded and drained, in order to shed the water, thereby given a good solid 

roadbed, excellently well adapted to the needs of motorists or drivers.



	Another section of the road built under the supervision of the state, is that 

between a point near Schuylkill Haven and extending to Friedensburg, a distance of four 

miles.



	Four miles of this same style road leads into Orwigsburg from south of Schuylkill 

Haven.



	In West Penn Township, another section of four miles has been built, and is well 

adapted for the use of the many travellers from that section.



	At Ringtown there is a one mile stretch, and at Pinegrove another stretch of a 

mile.



	Altogether the county possesses about twenty-five miles, and the prospects are 

that the near future will see many more added to its thoroughfares.

(  end of page 45 )



FIRES IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY



	Sunday, September 10th, 1848, was never forgotten by the inhabitants of 

Pottsville who resided there at that time, and those who still survive, recall with 

horror the fire that broke out on that fateful hour of eleven o’clock in the night.  

Hay and straw in a building on the corner of East Arch and Railroads streets had 

ignited, and before the fire department realized it , the entire block was ablaze at 

one time.  Many were rendered homeless, and the damage ran into the hundred thousand 

dollars.



	Friday, June 20th, 1873, was another day to be remembered by Pottsville 

inhabitants, when a fire broke out in Marzlin’s planing mill, and burning around the 

entire block, caused another one hundred thousand dollars loss, and the fire 

departments of Saint Clair, Minersville, and Mahanoy City were called upon for 

assistance, which was freely given. 



	Sunday, March 19th, 1876, was another sad day for Pottsvillians, for at 5:30 in 

the morning they were routed out of bed as the cry of fire spread, and the old Town 

Hall, in which all of the town Odd Fellow Lodges were tenants and stockholders, 

( end of page 46 )



were burned out and their entire paraphernalia destroyed.  Many business houses also 

suffered complete destruction.



	Shenandoah likewise suffered a destructive fire on Nov. 12th, 1883, when the 

central business portion of the town was destroyed.  The Mining Herald printing office 

of T.J. Foster was amongst the number.  After this fire the firm removed to Pottsville, 

and Pottsville people were invited to join in forming a company to push forward the 

work such as this firm was doing.  They refused to do so, and Mr. Foster, going to 

Scranton, received financial support, resulting in the magnificent establishment such 

as the Scranton International Correspondence  Schools have become.



	January 2, 1911, a fire broke out in a Minersville home at two o’clock in the 

morning.  The town firemen responded, and after two buildings had been burned, several 

people in a maudlin condition notified the firemen that there were children in the 

house when the fire broke out.  Why they did not tell the firemen earlier is attributed 

to ignorance, but to the horror of the men who worked so faithfully, the report proved 

to be too true, and five children had been incinerated when their little lives might 

have been saved if the firemen

( end of page 47 )



had been notified.  Not one man in the ranks would have hesitated to take his life in 

his own hands to save the children if he had known it.



At the hearing before the coroner’s jury, the parents were found guilty of negligence.





COUNTY FLOODS

	

Occasionally floods visit the anthracite region, and rarely do they pass without 

creating serious damage.



	In the year 1850 the floods did great damage.  Tumbling Run dams, which were used 

to feed the canal, were destroyed by the breaking through of the breasts, the rush of 

water carrying with it great destruction along the line of the canal.  Canal locks were 

swept away as so much paper, although they had been built of ponderous rock.



	In 1859 another series of floods caused residents of Saint Clair to flee to the  

hills, but besides high water, no serious damage was done.



	A few years ago, Mahanoy City was visited with a flood resulting in the bursting 

of the water dam north of the town, and damage in the town proper was considerable.



	On May 23, 1910, Pottsville had severe rain

( end of  page 48 )



storms, and the waters rose to such a height that it flowed through the Philadelphia & 

Reading station in a stream having the proportions of a river.  The dam above the 

Eastern Steel Mill burst through its breastwork, carrying many large pieces of lumber 

and wreckage with it, and after passing through the mill rushed down into the low 

sections of Pottsville, causing the damage to be extremely large, the county losses 

being estimated at a quarter of a million dollars, as the result of this heavy 

precipitation, which was general.





SCHUYLKILL’S COAL OUTPUT



	The amount of coal mined in the county from the time of its incorporation taken 

every tenth year, is as follows:

For the year 1820…………………………..357 tons;

1830……………………..174,734 tons;		        1840……………………..865,384 tons;

1850……………………3,358,899 tons;

1860………………….. 8,513,123 tons;

1870………………….15,849,899 tons;

1880………………….23,437,242 tons;

1890………………….35,855,174 tons;



And though the National and State officials may

( end of  page 49 )



attempt to designate or estimate the amount of coal still remaining beneath the earth’s 

surface, there is no danger of the present coal output in the county vanishing 

entirely, or at least for hundreds of years, no matter what experts say to the 

contrary.



	When the county was first incorporated, the cry of coal exhaustion was raised, 

and after working above water levels, for years, there was not idea that other levels 

would be as productive for a long time afterwards, yet such was the case, and 

supposedly worked out mines, which were worked in the 40’s and 50’s are this day 

proving to be the most valuable operations now working in the county.



	It is not necessary to waste the coal production; however, there is still plenty 

of coal to be found, and for generations there will be more to follow.



INDIAN SPRINGS AND PATHS



	Early settlers in the county have recorded the fact that not many Indians made 

their permanent abode in the county, but there are some excellent records of their 

having made this section their habitation at various times of the year.

(  end of page 50 )

	

One point referred to as being a stopping point for the early Indians is that of the 

spring out Mahantongo Street, near Twentieth Street, Pottsville, where a never-failing 

spring of water flows cheerfully along.  Some years ago relics of Indian utensils were 

found in this locality.



	Another spring that early writers mention is the one on Indian Run road, 

presumably named in honor of the visits of these primeval people, whether as a 

permanent abode of as a place of rest whilst migrating from one point to another.  No 

matter which is correct, it is a typical place for a rendezvous, and many a weary 

traveller has cooled his brow and slaked his thirst at this delightfully cool stream of 

water.



	It has been stated in former years that the location now occupied as the Charles 

Baber Cemetery was a place of residence of the early Indian, and as there was a stream 

of water usually to be found here, it is altogether likely that this was one of their 

temporary abiding places.



	Early Schuylkill county history states that the John Filbert and Edward Peale 

farms below Schuylkill Haven were permanent settlements of the early Indian, and that 

they raised crops in this locality.  This may be correct, for more crimes

( end of  page 51 )



were committed by roving Indians in the lower section of the county than any other 

point, perhaps caused by wandering marauders who sought temporary shelter under the 

tent of some friendly tribe.



	Spear heads, tomahawks, corn pounders, and various Indian utensils have been 

plowed up in the Ringtown Valley in the upper section of the county, presumably from 

some habitation of the Indian travelling from one section to another, or perhaps camp 

quarters which gave place of refuge to those who travelled from one tribe to another 

across the state from the Susquehanna to the Delaware, carrying messages to and fro 

during the war times.



	No Indian maiden, however, could have a more beautiful setting than the falls of 

Tumbling Run, and had Longfellow been a witness to a periodical visit of such a maiden, 

he perhaps would have given the world a rival to his famous poem, “Hiawatha.”





LOOKING BACKWARD



	In recalling the days of 1823, in Pottsville, a writer states that John Pott had 

built a two-story brick building on the site of the Merchant’s National 

(  end of page 52 )



Bank, which was at that time considered a neat and attractive building.  



	A two-story log house occupied the corner of Centre and Howard Avenue, opposite 

the Trinity Episcopal Church, and a few scattered buildings stood where the present 

large Dives, Pomeroy& Stewart building now stands.  Quite a contrast from the days of 

nearly eighty years ago.



	Market Street was laid out by Burd Patterson and William Pott, the latter being 

granted land by his father for the purpose, hence Garfield Square owes its wide expanse 

t the generosity of the Pott family.



	Henry O’Neil, a Frenchman, built a house at the corner of Centre and West Arch 

streets, the south-east corner, in this year, and David Phillips built two stone houses 

on the site now occupied by the Eastern Pennsylvania Railways Company’s offices.



	Ex-Sheriff John T, Werner, a gentleman well know by the present generation, came 

from Lebanon County, and became one of the county’s most widely known and greatly 

admired grand old men.



	In 1825 the town took a prosperous advance and built up rapidly, but during the 

second term of President Jackson in the years 1834 and 1837, it

(  end of page 53 )



suffered great depression, similar to that endured by the entire country.

	In 1838 it revived, however, and a better condition prevailed.



COUNTY MINERALS



	Attempts have been made at various times to unearth other minerals than coal, in 

Schuylkill County, but with varying success.  Iron ore has been found in small 

quantities, but not sufficiently to make its removal a permanent success.



	Gold has been reported from various farming sections within recent years, but 

there is doubt as to the quantity of gold being found in the county in any degree 

worthy of note.



	Sand has been taken out of the earth at various parts of the county, and recently 

an excellent quality of sand has been found near Hammon, on the Schuylkill & 

Susquehanna branch of the Philadelphia & Reading Company, and prospecting will in the 

near future be pushed forward to success.  There is no doubt about it being in paying 

quantities, and a careful analysis of it has disclosed the fact that the famous 

Cementon Works, in the adjoining county of Lehigh, will not be the only operation of 

its kind, for this sand is sure to prove

(  end of page 54 )



a competitor of the cement works, and that the future will find the greatest building 

projects in the world using concrete materials from this region of the  county.



	Besides this deposit of sand, there are several most desirable stone quarries on 

the same land, in fact, the stone was of such value that when the Schuylkill Valley 

division of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran through this section, the stone taken 

from this location was used in the building of the massive, magnificent arches erected 

by that company along its lines between Adamsdale and Pottsville.  The product improves 

with exposure, as the arches of the company will prove from through investigation, 

besides it is of a most desirable color.  The quarries will in some future day give up 

its product for massive buildings that are sure to be required in this growing section 

of the state, and perhaps they will be immense sky-scrappers.



	Another mineral that has been worked for more than thirty years has almost  

escaped the notice of county inhabitants, viz., smut, or the outcropping of the coal 

veins.  This smut is found in some localities to be several feet in thickness, of a 

soft, clammy substance.  It is gathered and

(  end of page 55 )



shipped to points where it is manufactured into shoe polish, stove polish, varnishes, 

and other preparations of this nature.  Some years ago when the stripping of the Saint  

Clair  Coal Company was started, this smut was very prominent and an analysis proved it 

to be valuable, but not in sufficient quantities at this point to be removed for 

commercial purposes.



SCHUYLKILL’S POPULATION



In 1811 when the county was formed, there was estimated about 6,000 people residing 

within its confines.



	1820 the number advanced to……………………………11,311

	1830…………………………………………………………20,744

	1840…………………………………………………………29,053

	1850…………………………………………………………60,713

	1860…………………………………………………………89,510

	1870………………………………………………………..116,428

	1880………………………………………………………..128,784

	1890………………………………………………………..154,163

	1900………………………………………………………..172,927

	1910……………………………………………………….207,894

(end of page 56)

	

Nearly every town in the county received part of the increase, the population of the 

principal towns given by the census of 1910 being:



       Pottsville…………………………………………………….20,236

       Shennadoah…………………………………………………25,774

       Mahanoy City………………………………………………15, 936

       Tamaqua………………………………………………………9,462

       Minersville……………………………………………………7,240

       Ashland……………………………………………………….6,855

       St. Clair……………………………………………………….6,455

       Schuylkill Haven……………………………………………

       Girardville……………………………………………………4,396

       Frackville…………………………………………………….3,118

       Port Carbon………………………………………………….2,678

       New Philadelphia…………………………………………..2,512

       Palo Alto…………………………………………………….1,873

       Orwigsburg………………………………………………....1,801

       Pinegrove……………………………………………………1,352

       Cressona…………………………………………………….1,807

       Gordon………………………………………………………1,185

       Middleport……………………………………………….…1,100

       Auburn………………………………………………………..921

       Ringtown……………………………………………………..723

       Port Clinton…………………………………………………..491

       Mount Carbon……………………………………………….335

     (end of page 57)



       Landingville………………………………………………....268

       New Ringgold…………………………………………….…266



	Shenandoah, the metropolis of the county, has a large foreign population, many of

 whom are becoming the best citizens in the county.  They are aggressive, eager to 

learn, and before the first generation has reached their majority, in many instances, 

they have become the leading citizens.

(end of page 58 )







SCHUYLKILL TOWNS



POTTSVILLE

“The sleeping fox catches no poultry.” - Franklin



It is very evident that the town of Pottsville has not been like the sleeping fox, for 

she catches most everything worth while that comes along in the county of Old 

Schuylkill.



	There has been much said pro and con about the laying out of the town, but 

suffice it to say that the credit for this foundation rests with the Pott family who 

came here in 1806, John Pott purchasing a furnace from Messrs. Reese and Thomas.



	The town was laid out in 1816, though there is enough evidence to prove that 

several families had located on the present site of the town even before the year 1800.



	Mr. Pott came of a family famed for their knowledge of the iron industry, their 

former residence being near the city of Philadelphia, and 

(  end of page 59 )



when John Pott arrived in this section, the first thing he attempted was to erect an 

iron industrial plant that proved his judgement was not in error.



	It is supposed he had some knowledge of the coal deposits in this locality, and 

looked forward to the day when he would cast the molten metal from furnaces heated by 

anthracite coal.



	The first thing he did after purchasing the furnace was to erect homes for 

workmen.  This was done in 1807.



	After the death of Mr. Pott his remains were interred in the plot of ground in 

the rear of the present Centre Street School Building, which for many years was the 

burial ground for  the inhabitants of Pottsville, in fact, remained so until and Act of 

the Legislature in the year 1897, passed through the efforts of Hon. G.C. Schrink, the 

Representative from the Fourth District of Schuylkill County, permitted the School 

Board of the District of Pottsville to remove the remains lying therein, and transfer 

them to some other  suitable ground dedicated for that purpose, the ground afterwards 

to be kept in presentable condition and to be used as a public school playground, which 

is now the case, the ground above mentioned being that running from West Race Street up

( end of  page 60 )



 Second Street to Laurel Street, in the rear of the Grammar School Building on  Centre 

Street.



	The bodies were removed, but the work was a trying one for members of the 

Pottsville School Board, who were responsible for the careful removal of the same.



	One family, that of Septimus Thomas, entered strenuous opposition, but the matter 

was finally settled to the complete satisfaction of every one concerned.



	The present site is a most beautiful park used for a most beautiful cause, that 

of fresh air and recreation for the public school children.





JOHN POTT MONUMENT

	

The monument erected to the memory of John Pott rests on this plot of ground being a 

granite of huge proportions and standing near the rear of the school building.



	The tracts of land upon which Pottsville rests was therefore originally known as 

that being conveyed to John Pott, who in turn conveyed to numerous other parties up to 

the year 1816, which was finally conveyed to the Schuylkill Navigation Company, and 

many of our residents who have

(  end of page 61 )



purchased property in Pottsville find this name in connection with their deeds and 

transfers.



	Pottsville was compelled for some years to go to the little town of Mount Carbon

when it was necessary to take a train or boat out of town, and the old station remains 

standing near the archway that opens under the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad at Mount  

Carbon, as referred to in another article.



	In the year 1824 Pottsville had but few houses, but in three years it had grown 

to hundreds.  Business circles began to look upon it as the coming town of this 

section, and accordingly large hotels were erected for the influx of coal magnates, 

speculators, boatmen and others who were flocking to the section to participate in the 

speculative world in which thousands of dollars were won or lost daily in the rush for 

coal  land.



	The  stage coach made its regular trips from Philadelphia with relays at various 

points, Pottsville being one of them, and there are inhabitants living today who can 

recall the last of the stage coach driver who had become a familiar figure along the 

route, the one referred to being old Uncle “Andy” Irwin, whose home was located in

( end of  page 62 )



Saint Claire at the northern end of the street now termed Second Street in that town.



	Old “Andy’s” sayings were choice bits of Americanisms acquired after leaving his 

home on the coast of Wales, taking to the American method of living with a relish.  He 

was a past master in the art of  witticism, railery, singing and dancing, and his coach 

has but within the past decade fallen to decay at the wheelwright shop at the corner of 

North Centre Street and Railroad Street, Fishbach, Pottsville.



	The Old Pioneer Furnace is remembered by those who frequented the “Orchard” 

section of the town, and for many years was run successfully by the Charles M. Atkins 

family, who still remain honored residents of our town.



POTTSVILLE MADE COUNTY SEAT



	It was in the year 1842 that Pottsville secured the coveted title of county seat, 

after continuous effort of 15 years, and  it remains to this day, even though an 

attempt was made to take part of the county affairs to the new proposed county of Quay, 

in which Hazleton sought the honor of being the new county seat.

(  end of page 63 )

	

There were many iron industries, machine shops, mine supply manufactories, and mine 

workers supplies judiciously handled by the town, the old George Snyder and Benjamin 

Heywood mining machinery shops being located on the site of the Eastern Pennsylvania 

Railways Company Power House at  Palo Alto, and it ran successfully until one day a 

strike occurred in the ranks of the employees.  Mr. Haywood is reported as stating to 

the men that if they went on strike, he would close the works, never to resume.



	The workmen had heard this story repeated in the past, and therefore paid no 

attention to it.  They went on strike, the shops were closed, and they never again 

opened for the same purpose, and finally went to decay until purchased by the above 

company.





MACHINERY FOR COLLIERIES



	The firm of Sparks & Parker of later years, originated from the endeavors of 

Jabez Sparks, John Sparks and Edward Greathead to erect machinery for the collieries in 

1855.  They accomplished their purpose and conducted a large business.  The death of 

Mr. Greathead, in 1855, and John Sparks retiring in 1860, Jabez Sparks continued, 

(  end of page 64 )



associating himself with his brother-in-law, Hiram Parker, under the title of Sparks & 

Parker, the firm remaining in business up to a recent date.  Their place of business 

was on East Norwegian Street where the Pennsylvania Railroad yards are now located, 

removing to Fishbach in 1885 when the Pennsylvania Company purchased the site of their 

plant for warehouse and yard purposes.



	Pott & Vastine were other large machinery builders located on Coal Street near 

the present Washington Street  bridge.



	The old Snyder Foundry at Coal and East Arch Streets, and the Wrenn Brothers iron 

works on Coal Street, and several other smaller machine works located on the same 

street, conducted successful works for years, doing the work for individual operators, 

and when the Philadelphia & Reading Company came into the coal field purchasing the 

properties of the individual operators, it became necessary for them to acquire their 

own repair and machine shops, hence most of the above shops sold out to this company, 

and they at the present time represent the largest industry  Pottsville possesses.



	In the coal mining section of this little history, no mention was made of the 

absorption of the individual

( end of page 65 )



coal operations in the county.  This came about principally through the Philadelphia & 

Reading Company owning the railroads throughout the county.  The individuals were 

compelled to ship their product over the lines, and if an operator violated in any way 

the injunctions laid upon them by the railroad company, they usually found a shortage 

of cars when they most desired them, hence, they found themselves at the mercy of the 

railroad corporation. If the company notified them that only three days each week would 

be worked, woe betide the individual who would attempt to work a greater number of 

days, for to them would be doled out such a shortage of cars that they would be 

eventually compelled to lose more than three days in the first place designated.



	The order of the day became “no competition,” and as the railroad carrying 

company was eagerly buying up the coal companies throughout the county, it was foreseen 

that in a short time they would possess all of the valuable properties, and this proved 

to be the outcome.



	Franklin B. Gowen, the President of the Philadelphia & Reading Company, was a man 

of great foresight.  He saw what the future had in store

( end of  page 66 )



for this company, and therefore purchased all of the coal lands that the company could 

handle, but he was fifty years in advance of his time.  They termed him a wild 

speculator, but his judgement has proven to be the means of accumulating vast wealth 

for this great mining industry.



	The Tilt Silk Mill is another of Pottsville’s greatest industries, and the 

product from this great industry finds its way into the markets of the entire world.



	There are hosiery mills, garment mills, clothing factories, hat factories, shoe 

factories, meat packing houses, lumber mills, the tress for which are found in some 

sections of our county, whilst the farm products are of the best to be found anywhere 

in the world, the average Schuylkill Countian taking pride in the latest method of 

handling fruit, until the day is not far distant when their fruit will be of the first 

quality.



POTTSVILLE PLACES OF WORSHIP



	The churches of the new city of Pottsville are amongst the finest in the land.

  Its proportion of membership ranks high, the various denominations being:

	The First Methodist Episcopal Church;

(  end of page 67 )

	

       St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church;

       First Presbyterian Church

       Second Presbyterian Church;

       St. John the Baptist German Catholic Church’

       The English Evangelical Lutheran Church;

       The Trinity Lutheran Church;

       Zion’s Evangelical Church;

       United Evangelical Church;

       Trinity Episcopal Church;

       Chapel of the Resurrection; 

       Chas. Barber Cemetery

       St. Paul’s Chapel, Mechanicsville;

       St. Luke’s Chapel, Fishbach;

       First German Reformed Church;

       Trinity Reformed Church;

       St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church;

       Welsh Congregational Church;

       First Baptist Church;

       Jewish Church;

       First Church of Christ (Scientist)



NEW POTTSVILLE CITY GOVERNMENT



	In the Centennial year, 1911, the new form of government for Pottsville will

become operative, at which time the city form will be adopted, the citizens having 

voted for city charter, which

( end of  page 68 )



passed successfully in November, 1910.  This will mean an entire new Common and Select 

council, Mayor, Treasurer, etc.



	The public schools of the city are considered of the best; pupils leaving here 

find success in whatever calling they may pursue, many of the former pupils now holding 

the most responsible positions to be found anywhere in the world.



	The County Court House and The County Prison are both model institutions, 

conducted in a most satisfactory manner and with credit to the county, in no matter 

what form of politics they may have risen from.



	The railroad facilities of the city are excellent, the Philadelphia & Reading, 

the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Lehigh Valley entering the city.



	The Pennsylvania & Reading line runs through from Philadelphia to Williamsport, 

and is one of the principal railroad divisions of the country, fifty trains arriving 

and departing from Pottsville daily.



	The coal sent through this section leads the world, and there is no doubt but 

that the region’s product of coal furnishes light and heat to a large proportion of the 

inhabitants of the globe, for during one of the coal region strikes, great

(  end of page 69 )



distress was the result, not only in our own country, but that of foreign countries.



	The Pennsylvania Railroad entered the Schuylkill region in 1885, and is the main 

line of the Philadelphia & Erie branch, having trains arriving and departing to the 

number of thirty daily.  This company likewise has a large coal carrying business, 

having large coal interests in this and adjoining counties, the product of which passes 

through the city of Pottsville en route to the ends of the earth.



	Pottsville honored its soldier dead and living by erecting a beautiful granite 

Soldier’s Monument, which is located on the public square on Market Street, between 

Fourth Street and Sixth Street.  The figures in relief upon the same represent an 

infantryman, and artilleryman, a cavalryman and a sailor, with the figure of a statue 

of Liberty, wreath in hand with which to crown the victors.  It is a fine work of art, 

and is in commemoration of the 13,000 soldier dead or living furnished by the county of 

Schuylkill during the Civil War.



FINANCES OF POTTSVILLE

	

The banks of Pottsville are substantial institutions of finance, and are conducted by 

the city’s most able, conscientious and respected gentlemen.

( end of  page 70 )

	

The Safe Deposit Bank, The Miner’s National Bank, The Pennsylvania National Bank, The 

Merchants National Bank, The Schuylkill Trust Company and The Union Safe Deposit Banks 

are all institutions that safely guard the deposits of our residents, amounting into 

the millions of dollars.



IMMENSE ROLLING MILLS



	Pottsville is favored with an iron industrial plant that is considered one of 

great importance to the iron trade.  It is not one of the largest in the world, but it 

ranks high in that line, and is a source of great benefit to the thousand workmen 

residing in that city.



	The old Snyder & Haywood machine shops had furnished the material for the Pioneer 

Furnaces lying on an island south of Pottsville, a plant in which Anthracite coal was 

first experimented with as fuel for making pig iron.  These furnaces proved to the 

world that Anthracite was a valuable commercial product for the manufacture of pig 

iron.  In 1853, the old Pottsville Rolling Mills, located at Fishbach, were having 

financial difficulties, and when the mills passed through, the hands of Sheriff  

Charles M. Atkins purchased

( end of  page 71 )



the same, the former owners having been Edward Yardley and John Burnish, trading as 

Yardley & Co.



	Mr. Atkins was associated with his brother, Hanson Atkins, and after purchasing 

the plant, enlarged the same, and likewise purchased the Pioneer Furnaces and enlarged 

them also.  They found it convenient to use Anthracite coal, and therefore operated a 

colliery for that purpose at Gilberton.  These three plants made wonderful progress for 

some years, becoming advance industries of their kind in the country.



	In 1865, when the war for the preservation of the Union was at its point of 

termination, both the Pioneer Furnaces and the Pottsville Rolling Mills were greatly 

enlarged and improved.  Later the name of the company became that of the Pottsville 

Iron and Steel Company, with Charles M. Atkins as the president, and  the company 

continued along the lines of successful operation.  In 1872 they were again enlarged, 

keeping abreast of the time.  However, some years later, depression in the iron 

industry caused several years idleness, and after a series of legal complications, the 

mills at Fishbach passed into the hands of the present owners, the Eastern Steel 

Company.  The works were very

( end of  page 72 )



greatly enlarged and the latest methods adopted for the manufacture of iron and steel 

products.  Today it is a great industrial plant, one of the first plants in the city of 

Pottsville, employing as it does a thousand or more employees who assist in giving 

Pottsville much of its prosperity.  Some of the product is used in the greatest of 

world improvements, such as the great subway lines of New York, the structural iron and 

steel necessary for the erection of the famous United States “Dreadnoughts” being built 

by the Navy of our country, and likewise structural work for vast railroad operations 

in this and foreign countries.





POTTSVILLE’S BIG MACHINE WORKS



	In 1834, when the demands for mining machinery became very pronounced in this 

section of the county, George W. Snyder and Benjamin Haywood, two of the town’s most 

enterprising men, opened a machine shop, moulding shop, blacksmith shop and car shop 

combined.



	This shop became a prominent institution, and extremely convenient, being the 

fourth of its kind in the entire United States, the other three being as follows: Rush 

& Muhlenberg Works at Bushkill, Phila.;

(  end of page 73 )



Fort Pitt Foundry, Pittsburg, and the third at East Boston, Mass.

	

There was a great demand for the product from the new machine shop and the 

incorporators were constantly employed upon some new engine, or other mining machinery, 

therefore, it was but natural for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company to 

endeavor to procure them for their own when they had entered the field of coal mining, 

and having bought the interests of many individual operators in the county, found it 

necessary to own their own shops, so in 1882 they purchased the shops from Messrs. 

Snyder and Haywood, and they today form part of that great institution known as the 

Pottsville shops of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company, in which the 

great engines, pumps, tanks &etc., are manufactured for the use of the many collieries 

of this company scattered throughout the region.



	A large storehouse is also found on Coal Street where duplicate parts of most of 

the machinery is to be found in readiness to fill an emergency order in case of a break 

in the machinery at any of the mines.



	A thousand or more workmen are employed at the various shops of this company 

located on Coal

(end of  page 74 )



Street, which is supplied with its own electricity generated at the rear of the old 

Snyder & Haywood foundry, corner Coal and East Minersville streets.  This plant 

supplies all the offices with light besides the various shops, which is a great 

convenience to workmen employed at night upon intricate machine work.  The company is 

equipped to manufacture its own bolts and nuts, a new department having been added 

within the past year for this purpose on Coal and East Norwegian.



	A compressed air plant is also used to advantage in the boiler and machine 

departments.



Taken altogether these shops are a great aid to the company in all its various branches 

of work, and is without doubt the largest of its kind in this section of the country.





POTTSVILLE IN BRIEF



	Its salubrious climate is admitted by physicians as being beneficial to many 

inhabitants, situated as it is at a considerable height above the sea.  This fact is 

demonstrated by the many residents who have reached a long span of years.



	Its eldest resident is Anthony Redelberger, who celebrated his centenary this 

year and gives

(  end of page 75 )



promise of more years to come.  It has several nonogenarians, many octogenarians, and 

many others who come within a few years of reaching the latter term of years.



	Its railroad facilities are such as to carry a passenger to Philadelphia in 

slightly more than two hours, a distance of 94 miles.



	Its churches are commodious, the pulpits being filled with learned theologians, 

whilst music of the highest order intersperse the services.



	Its merchants are men above the average, with stores equal to those of 

metropolitan cities, the Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart Department Store holding the honor of 

being the largest and most popular store in the city.



	Its streets are paved with chemically treated wood block for eight squares, 

running from Union Street on the south to Harrison Street on the north; West Norwegian 

and West Market for several squares being paved with brick; Railroad and all other 

streets for eight squares mentioned above, running east from Centre to Railroad being 

paved with Belgian blocks, whilst the other  streets of the city are macadamized, 

making motoring or driving a delightful recreation.



	Its hills are picturesque, and from their summits

(  end of page 76 )



give a view of beauty rarely found within a city’s limits.



	Its musicians and musical organizations are capable of rendering either in vocal 

or instrumental music, the most difficult works of music ever written.  The Third 

Brigade Band being an organization of National reputation, whilst the recent production 

of Handel’s “Samson,” in the Methodist Church, was faultlessly rendered by a chorus of 

nearly 125, with a large orchestra accompaniment.  The  Pottsville Symphony Orchestra 

renders classical music.



	Its homes are well constructed, roomy, commodious, and of superb architectural 

design, the homes of workingmen being far above the average city home.



	Its water, whilst not filtered, is the purest that nature can produce, clear as 

crystal, pure and wholesome, and in quantities much in excess of the city’s 

requirements.



	Its homes are heated with Anthracite coal burning methods, furnaces, steam 

heating and hot water appliances, whilst, the central portion of the city is supplied 

with steam heat from a corporation.



	Its streets and home are lighted by gas and electric light, from the best known 

methods, and 

(  end of page 77 )



in sufficient quantity to give entire satisfaction, the same being furnished by the 

public corporations.  



	Its farming products are brought to the city fresh from mother earth in large 

quantities almost daily from nearby rural districts.



	Its fruits are largely produced near its door, and the quantity and quality is 

steadily improving.



	Its health-producing qualities are admitted by physicians and not many years will 

pass by, ere Fresh Air Sanatoriums will look down upon the city from the lofty summits 

within its domain.



	Its future prospects of becoming a city of 60,000 is admittedly bright, and 

the project can be carried out by annexing the suburban towns and villages.



	Its Henry Clay monument on South Second Street is in Memory of that famous 

statesman who was greatly admired by Pottsvillians, and some future day will see the 

much looked for public park that was originally intended for this location.



	Its people are principally native born, frugal, peace-loving citizens, but when 

necessary, they always respond to the call for help.  They are descended from sturdy 

German stock, principally.



	Its schools are sending forth throughout the

(  end of page 78 )



world, men and women who become leaders in every chosen profession.



	Its borough government has been conservative and well managed, and the new city 

government  is expected to be likewise.



	Its hotels are high class, and conducted by able and most honorable business men, 

and the future will find them prepared for every emergency.



	It’s a city, first and last and all the time, ready with open arms to welcome the 

stranger within its gates.



SHENANDOAH

	

	Shenandoah, the metropolis of Schuylkill County, lacks the beauty of the county 

seat.  The facilities for railroad traffic, being on a branch road of the Philadelphia 

& Reading, likewise the Pennsylvania, is good, but may be improved.  The Lehigh Valley 

also runs through the town.  Its principal industries are the mining of coal, and 

Manufacturing of garments, &c.  It has been said that the nationalities of the town 

represent twenty different languages, and the cosmopolitan manner of living is one of 

its most prominent features.



	Whilst the business houses have greatly 

( end of page 79 )



improved the past few years, the inhabitants are crowded for lack of building space, 

due to the surrounding property being under the control of the coal corporations, who 

find it  inconvenient for them to lease much of the land, for when once leased, it is a 

difficult matter to terminate the lease in case of a necessity to remove the coal 

beneath the homes erected upon the ground, and when damage to property occurs, the 

homeowner resorts to the Courts to compel the corporations to indemnify him for the 

damage to his property.  Thus, land is becoming more scarce for building purposes 

yearly, and the future is a serious problem for the town authorities to face.



	It possesses churches of every description, substantial banking institutions, and 

an excellent public school system.  It has been stated by public school teachers that 

the foreign children, though difficult to instill into them a good foundation, are apt 

pupils when once started, and in many cases carry the honors away from the native born 

children.



	It owns its own water supply, but for several years past it has been inadequate 

for the purpose, the rapid growth of the town being such as to cause a water shortage 

in case of drought during

(end of page 80 )



summer.  This has occurred two years in succession.



	The Schuylkill Traction Company runs through the town , and connects with 

Girardville and Ashland on the west, and Mahanoy City on the east.



	It has several musical organizations, but since the disbanding of the famous 

Grant Band, it has not reached the highest musical standard such as the above 

organization has maintained.



	In the year 1883, a serious conflagration swept over the town rendering many 

homeless, and destroying the principal business section of the town.  It was not long, 

however, before the town had been built on a grander and larger scale than ever before.  

Today it is well established, and with its paved streets, excellent fire department, 

and everything necessary for protection to life and limb, it has a most decidedly 

bright future before it.



MAHANOY CITY



	This town is located upon the main line of the Williamsport division of the 

Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and has excellent service on the Lehigh Valley 

Railroad, but the Pennsylvania

(  end of page 81 )



Railroad does not enter the town proper, taking passengers, however, within a mile of 

town.



	It was first settled in 1859, but  incorporated into a borough in 1863.  It is 

very prosperous, its industries being the mining of coal, several iron industries and 

machine works, garment factories, &c., and has perhaps the longest stretch of paved 

street in any town in the county.  It lies in a valley with coal mines lined up along 

the hillsides. The town suffers greatly from the lack of building space owing to these 

operations, the corporations being unwilling to lease the land for building purposes 

owing to commercial reasons.



	Its fire department is one of the best in the county, its water supply for 

superior to that of Shenandoah.



	It is located on the line of the Schuylkill Traction Company lines.



	Many of the citizens that now reside there had served during the Civil War from 

other towns.



	It has several substantial banks, excellent public schools, churches of many and 

various denominations owing to its population being composed of many nations in a 

similar degree to that of Shenandoah.

(  end of page 82 )



ASHLAND AND GIRARDVILLE



	Ashland, the little town that starts at the foot of a hill and in one broad sweep 

takes up a thoroughfare that is on a steady, but easy incline, shows that principal 

street off to a great advantage with its paving of good brick.  The town has sturdy 

business people, good churches and schools, and is located on the main line of the 

Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, on the Williamsport division, also having the Lehigh 

Valley Railroad running through the town.  The Schuylkill Traction Company has its 

headquarters here, and is the extreme western end of that road, but is connected with 

the towns farther west by excellent trolley line service.



	Girardville, the town named after Stephen Griard, was incorporated in 1872, and 

the wealth of this famous Philadelphian was greatly augmented by his interests here.  

The headquarters of the Girard Estate is located here, and all of the wealth that has 

been taken from the earth for this estate has found its way into the pocket of the City 

of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.



	It is rather a misfortune for the county that some of this wealth was not allowed 

to remain

( end of page 83 )



here and used to advantage for the up building of the town and county.



	The great Girard College, of Philadelphia, which has been maintained by this 

estate, however, has done much toward educating the orphan children of the mining 

region, many of the parents of whom have lost their lives in the hazardous calling of 

miner.  Some of the boys educated in the College have been a credit to the county as 

well as to their surviving relatives, many of them having gained wide knowledge which 

in after years gave them superior advantage over their fellow playmates or school 

mates.



	If some of the vast wealth of the Girard Estate was utilized to reward acts of 

heroism in the mines, there is no doubt but that much money would be used up in placing 

these rewards, for there is no place in the world where more acts of heroism is 

displayed than the hundreds and thousands of  feet beneath the surface where the toiler 

sees no daylight from his entrance into the slope or shaft until his return to the 

surface again.  Their acts are never, or rarely ever, brought to the attention of the 

masses, yet they are being accomplished daily, and frequently the hero loses his life, 

and the children and widow are soon forgotten.

(  end of page 84 )



MAHANOY PLANE and GILBERTON



These two little towns lie in the valley, Gilberton adjoining Mahanoy Plane on the 

east, both being on the main line of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad between 

Mahanoy City and Ashland.  They are both desolate looking little towns, due to the 

great culm banks as the result of removing the coal and dirt from the earth and 

depositing the waste material on the hills and valleys.  Stephen Girard drove the first 

tunnel at Mahanoy Plane, and the wealth extracted from the earth since that time has 

been almost beyond computation.



	The great inclined planes owned by the Philadelphia & Reading Company are located 

here, and with huge stationary engines located at Frackville, on the summit of the 

hill, the cars are hoisted upon the one track filled with coal from the Mahanoy Valley 

and empty cars lowered on the other track into the valley to be distributed amongst the 

collieries that exist in the valley.  A double set of engines, and double tracks are 

now being installed.



	This means of hoisting the coal up the incline, allows an easy decent to 

Pottsville, and thence to Philadelphia.

(  end of page 85 )



FRACKVILLE



This little town is one of the cleanest, most prosperous towns in the county.  The 

miners from the Mahanoy Valley who have no desire to live amongst the culm and dirt 

banks, chose this as their place of residence in preference to some point near the 

colliery.



	The town is one of the highest points in the county, yet with this evident fact, 

during two seasons of unusual drought, artesian wells have supplied more water than the 

various towns throughout that section could carry away from the town in tank cars for 

that purpose.  It has a never-failing stream of water beneath its surface.



	Its citizens are progressive, and the past two years have seen many changes in 

the carrying on of the affairs of the borough.  A band was established within recent 

years that is becoming a prominent institution.





SAINT CLAIR



	This town became a borough in 1850, but there had been many residents here many 

years prior thereto.



	It is located on the branch line of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway and the 

main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.



	For many years the mining of coal has gone along in the usual manner of coal 

mining localities.  It has good public schools, churches, and stores, and within the 

past few years has installed a system of sewage that has supplied a long felt want.



	At the present time the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company are improving 

storage yards in this borough and adjoining township lands that will cost over a 

million dollars.  New bridges have been erected to span the railroad, and at Mill 

Creek, the creek bed has been changed in order to permit of more trackage room for the 

storage of coal, the erecting of railroad car shops, and other improvements to be made 

making this little town one of great importance to the coal industry.



	A new weigh scale building has been erected containing offices, &c., in order to 

facilitate the work of weighing the coal coming down from Frackville.  At this point 

the cars will be sorted out and the trains made up for the long run to the Atlantic 

coast and other shipping points.



	The town is very prosperous at the present time.

(  end of page 87)

	

There are other factories in the town, but the pioneer industry of the town is that of 

making miners’ squibs for the blasting necessary in the mines.  It is the home of the 

“Safety Squib,” a necessary article to every miner for blasting purposes.



	It is also connected with Pottsville by the Eastern Pennsylvania Railways 

Company, a trolly company that maintains an excellent schedule to and from the county 

seat.





PORT CARBON



	This is another little town along the aforementioned trolley line, and is 

virtually a continuation of Pottsville, between which there are close social and 

business connections.  The Philadelphia & Reading Company runs through the town.  It 

has the proud distinction of being settled almost simultaneously with Pottsville, as 

furnaces were built there, and also saw mills erected in the early days in order to be 

at the head of the Schuylkill Navigation company Canal.



	A story published years ago to the effect that when Abraham Pott had received the 

grant of land in which the town now stands, he erected

( end of page 88 )



 a few scattered homes.  After a time other homes were erected but they were 

practically in a forest.  The little town grew in several directions, and one night the 

citizens met around the cannon stove in the store and decided upon some action whereby 

the citizens could improve the town.  The first thought was to cut down the timber and 

leave an open space for the citizens to view each other’s homes.  Words were suited to 

action, and before much time was lost, trees were felled right and left.  Some owners 

objected to this high-handed method, and the entire town was routed out one day and 

taken before Court at Orwigsburg in hay wagons, log teams, &c.



	The case was called, but before the proceedings went very far, all were 

discharged, with not penalty attached.  The citizens decided it was a great day’s 

sport.





SCHUYLKILL HAVEN



	This is the town which last derived any benefit from the old canal, above Port 

Clinton.  It is the home of the oldest boatmen in this section of the state.  In recent 

years it has made wonderful strides.  Its homes are neat, its business places

(  end of page 89 )



attractive, and its streets, paved with brick, are much admired.  It also has a bank.

Churches are well kept and the population of the town is considered above the average 

in intelligence.



It is located on the main line of the Philadelphia & Reading, is the terminus of the 

Mine Hill branch of this road which is of historic associations; is on the main line of 

the Pennsylvania Railroad, and also the Lehigh Valley.



Just beyond the borough line in North Manheim Township is the Schuylkill County 

Almshouse, which is at present undergoing the erection of new hospital buildings.

Besides its many railroad affiliations, it has many little hosiery and garment mills 

that are substantial institutions, and the owners are frugal and industrious.

It is the home of the late Senator Samuel Randall, of National fame.



CRESSONA

	

This little town has a unique history, having been the distributing centre for the coal 

that came down from the famous Gordon Planes also owned by the Philadelphia & Reading 

Company, and used in the handling of coal from the point mentioned to that of Cressona, 

where it left the Mine Hill Division to connect with the main line of the railroad to 

Philadelphia.



	It has good churches and schools, and of recent years has wonderfully improved in 

appearance by the improving of the old homes and building of new ones.









ORWIGSBURG



	The oldest town in the county has advanced but little in the matter of 

population, but what it lacks in quantity, it surpasses in quality, for it can truly be 

said that Orwigsburg is the parent of the county’s most prominent and prosperous 

citizens.  The original stock of inhabitants were German of the most sturdy, honest , 

law-abiding, God-fearing folk, and one of the first things after settling in that 

section was to build churches.  A few years ago the famous “Red Church” celebrated its 

centenary, the services being attended by so great a gathering that the edifice failed 

to hold the audience, hence it was necessary for many to participate in the service 

whilst remaining on the outside.

( end of  page 91 )

	

Financially, the town possesses the honor of having the highest per capita amount of 

wealth, owing principally to its many small industries which have become wealth 

producers for the owners, and the products of the same are worn throughout the country.  

Shoe factories and knitting mills are the town’s most important industries.



	It has never been able to induce but one railroad to pass through its boundary 

and the service on that road is insufficient to be considered a railroad for the 

general convenience of the travelling public, i.e., the Lehigh Valley.





AUBURN and PORT CLINTON

	

	The former town has lately added the electric light to its other conveniences, 

hence it is deriving much pleasure from the new method of lighting, and forms an 

excellent improvement.  It is on the main line of the Philadelphia & Reading, and the 

Schuylkill & Susquehanna line runs through to Harrisburg from this point.



	Port Clinton still sends coal down via canal boats, this being the last town in 

the county to make use of the canal, but there are other towns that would pay a large 

sum for the same advantage, for a movement is on foot to again open up the canal so as 

to be a competition against the high freight rates on the railroads.





MINERSVILLE



	This town is the fifth in size and importance in the county, and at the rapid 

manner of its growth  it will soon pass some of the other towns in the

( end of  page 93)



forward movement.  It is being made to centre of an aggressive mining campaign in which 

new openings are frequently being made.  Experienced operators from other regions are 

learning the value of the coal underlying that section of the county and are profiting 

thereby.



	The town has improved wonderfully the past few years, its stores are well kept, 

its streets well lighted, and with paved streets being added yearly, it will not be 

many years before it will take a place of prominence in the coal region.



	Its schools and churches are of the best.  The Philadelphia & Reading Company 

pass through the town on the Mine Hill Division, and the Lehigh Valley runs into the 

town, but the town is handicapped in a way owing to the fact that for the short ride to 

Pottsville, a fare of ten cents is maintained on the trolley system.







HECKSCHERVILLE VALLEY



	This valley is one rich in minerals, and with each succeeding year more 

operations are opening up, so that the thought of coal veins being worked out in a few 

years, scientific mining methods have discovered greater veins than were ever known

( end of  page 94 )



 in the past, and better methods adopted in the working of the same.



The Philadelphia & Reading Company own most of these operations and are doing the work 

systematically.





SCHUYLKILL VALLEY



	This section of the county was the first to send its coal products to the ports 

near Philadelphia, and many mines were worked to a successful issue, but of later 

years, the Philadelphia & Reading company have failed to take advantage of the vast 

bodies of coal remaining untouched, and a rival company came into the field.  Up to the 

present, nothing of importance has been done, but in no distant date in all probability 

the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad will enter the field and take some of old 

Schuylkill’s wealth to its own banking institutions.



	Middleport, New Philadelphia, Cumbola, likewise the entire valley will some day 

be a very important mining centre.

( end of  page 95 )



TOWER CITY



	This town was named after a recent Ambassador to Germany, Charlemagne Tower.  It 

is located in the region from which some of the finest red ash coal in the world is 

mined.  It is connected with the county seat by the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, 

and the inhabitants mostly trade at this point.



PINEGROVE

	

This is one of the oldest towns in the county, having been a military post sometime in 

the later part of the 1790’s.  It is also on the Philadelphia & Reading  Company lines 

between Auburn and Harrisburg.  It  is a neat town, with modern improvements, and its 

inhabitants are thrifty, and trustworthy.

( end of  page 96 )



A BIT OF HISTORY



Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart’s entrance into the mercantile life of Pottsville dates back 

just twenty-five years, to 1886, when they purchased the business of Jacob Miehle, 5 

and 7 North Centre Street, and made C. George Miller Manager.



	The advanced methods of merchandising and the liberal store policy and spirit of 

aggressiveness of the newcomers and its manager, soon won the favor of the Schuylkill 

Countians.



	After six years of new and better store service, the business reached such 

proportions that it compelled the growing firm to reach out for larger quarters, so the 

R.R. Morris building was purchased, this being the largest building in Pottsville 

devoted to department store use.  Since this purchase many improvements have been made, 

in keeping with the progress of trade and the growth of the city’s interests.



	Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart first established

(  end of page 97 )



themselves in business in Reading, Pa., in 1876.  Their other stores are located in 

Harrisburg and Pottstown, and they also hold a partnership interest in the Wm. F. Gable 

& Co. store at Altoona, Pa.



	Through their connection with the Syndicate Trading  Co. of New York, with 

foreign offices in Paris, France; Manchester, England; Chemintz, Germany; and St. Gall, 

Switzerland, they enjoy every facility for getting European goods direct from 

manufacturers economically for their chain of stores.



	The New York office maintains a staff of capable buyers who attend to the 

importation of goods for the twelve stores composing the Syndicate Trading Co. and as 

well keep in close touch with the markets of domestic made products.



	Josiah Dives, the senior member of the firm of Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart, is of 

English parentage and was born in Canterbury, England, in 1851.  He was educated in the 

public schools and also at Cross Academy.  The death of his father when he was only 

thirteen years old, was a turning point in his life.  After a few years he went to 

London and was employed in the well-known mercantile house of Debenham & Freebody.  In 

1872 Mr. Dives met Mr. J.M. Thomson of Brown, 

(end of page 98 )



Thomson & Co., Hartford, Conn., who prevailed upon him to come to America.  He remained 

with this firm until 1876, when he decided to go into business with George S. Pomeroy 

and John Stewart.  They located in Reading at 533 Penn Street, which soon proved too 

small for their rapidly growing business.  Today they occupy the best site and largest 

store in the City of Reading, also of Harrisburg, Altoona, Pottsville and Pottstown.  

Mr. Dives has a handsome city home on Hill Road, Reading, opposite the park, which he 

occupies in the winter with his wife and family and in the summer he spends much of his 

time at his beautiful and attractive county home called “Folley Farm,” about three 

miles from Reading.



	George Strickland Pomeroy, the youngest member of the firm of Dives, Pomeroy & 

Stewart, was born in Hartford, Conn., July 10, 1853.  His family antecedents were 

Colonial and Continental; he was the son of Joseph and Mary Wadsworth Pomeroy.  He 

illustrates in his life the highest qualites of a self-made man, is public spirited and 

very charitable.  He inherits his mercantile tastes from his father and grandfather, 

who were successful merchants.  Mr. Pomeroy formerly resided part  of the year in his 

city home, but about ten

(  end of page 99 )



years ago he enlarged and beautified his country residence at Wernersville, Pa., known 

as “Glen Tilt,” where he now resides with his family.



	John Stewart, the deceased member of the firm, passed away in November, 1885; he 

was a gentleman of Scotch birth and was much beloved by  his partners and many friends.



	C. George Miller, manager of Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart’s Pottsville store, was 

born in Lebanon county in 1853.  At the age of 16 he moved to Pottsville and entered 

the employ of Samuel Morris, 218 North Centre Street.  A short time later Mr. Miller 

became one of Mr. R.R. Morris’s clerks, remaining in his service ten years, at the 

corner of Centre and Mahantongo Streets, where the Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart store is 

now located.  Mr. Miller’s deep interest in his work and his progressive spirit made 

him want to reach out further, as he entered a broader field by connecting himself with 

his present employers’ store at Reading, Pa.  After two years of service he returned to 

Pottsville in 1882 and engaged in the dry goods business in the property adjoining the 

main building of the Pottsville Republican.  Before many months a prosperous business 

made it necessary to remove to larger quarters as Second

(  end of page 100 )



and Market streets, and the business cares reached such proportions that several 

partners joined him in his growing business.  The partnership continued for several 

years, until 1886, when Mr. Miller sold his interest in the business to his partners 

and purchased for Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart the business of Jacob Miehle, 5 and 7 North 

Centre Street, he becoming the general manager of the firm.  Mr. Miller is one of 

Pottsville’s oldest merchants, having entered his forty-second year of mercantile life 

in Pottsville, and he is held  in  high esteem by his friends and acquaintances in the 

business and social circles of the city and county.  Mr. Miller is the owner of the 

beautiful country residence of the late Senator Samuel Randall, in North Manheim 

Township, where he resides the year round.





FINIS

	At the close of this, the county of Schyulkill’s first centenary festivities, it 

is but fitting to renew allegiance to her institutions, so that in a larger degree her 

future success be measured; her prosperity be carefully guarded, her citizens keep 

inviolate the sanctity of her laws;



( end of page 101 )



That in the increase of her prosperity, a vigilant eye guard her every movement;

That her laws be observed as a sacred duty, to so temper her steel that it may 

withstand any strain;



	That her citizens, at the close of another centenary, may look back with pride 

tot he great good accomplished in all her affairs;



	That a free, law-abiding, God-fearing people, in which love and respect 

predominates, shall abide within her walls;



	That her churches, her schools and her public institutions may have enjoyed the 

fullest measure of prosperity;



	That her commercial interests be built upon the highest pinnacle - even beyond 

the height attained at the present time, and whilst we bid farewell to our many friends 

and patrons, may we join the chorus of 

“Schuylkill! Oh Dear Old Schuylkill!

Nestling ‘neath hills so fair,

When roving days are ended,

I know a welcome waits me there.”

				

			DIVES, POMEROY &  STEWART



Pottsville, Penna., 1911



( end of page102 )







EXTRACTS FROM A PAPER PREPARED FOR THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY

BY

BAIRD HALBERSTADT



	The sketch presented on the opposite page* was reduced from a lithographic 

reproduction of a pen and ink sketch made in the summer of 1830 by an architect named 

T.P. Ashwin, who had come to Pottsville to superintend the erection of a number of fine 

residences.



	Possessed of an artistic temperament and being a lover of Nature, Mr. Ashwin as 

he rambled about was so much impressed with this view, that he, with pen and ink, 

preserved  it for future generations.



	The position he took was on the western side of the Pottsville Gap, about midway 

between what is now Hotel Street and the road leading from Second Street, and to the 

southwest of the Snyder Mansion, at corner of Centre and Morris streets.



	To the right winding around the base of Sharp Mountain is seen the Schuylkill 

Canal with the lock-tender and collector’s office.  In the foreground is Pioneer Island 

with the forge built between 1797 and 1804, by Reese & Thomas. On the slope of Sharp 

Mountain is seen the coal mine of Robert Barclough with its schute and plane.  In the 

left foreground rises the roof of the residence now occupied by Miss Emma Pott, which 

was built in 1829.



	The building to the left at the breast of the dam across the Schuylkill River is 

the grist mill of John Pott, erected in 1810.  (The site of the old mill is now 

occupied by the Philips’ shirt factory on Mauch Chunk Street.)  Within a short distance 

of this mill were the cabin in which the Neiman family were massacred by Indians in 

August, 1780, and the ford of “the King’s Highway” constructed in 1770.

( end of  page 103 )

	

On the hill to the left are seen the house and buildings ocupied by Robert and John 

Young, who mined coal in the hollow to the east of the house and now as then known as 

Young’s Landing.  The houses seen on the island in the foreground were occupied by the 

men employed at the forge.  Coal was mined at the foot of the hill below the large 

trees  near the present Mauch Chunk Street bridge as early as 1783.  In the distance 

stretches away Salem Hill, terminating at Port Carbon.



	It was at the Pottsville furnace built on Pioneer Island in 1838 by Messrs. 

Marshall Kellogg & Company that William Lyman began his experiments in smelting iron 

ore with anthracite coal.  Lyman received a prize of 5000 subscribed by some 

influential citizens of Pennsylvania, and “to be presented to the individual who would, 

within a specified time, succeed in smelting a certain amount of  iron ore with 

Anthracite Coal,&c.”



	By awarding the prize to Mr. Lyman the questions of where and by whom the first 

successful attempt to smelt iron ore with hard coal was settled.



	The house in the right foreground was remodelled by the late D.J. Ridgeway, Esq., 

and occupied by him for many years as a residence.  Its site is the present lawn on the 

south side of the P.W. Sheafer home.  At the time ( 1830 ) the Philadelphia & Reading 

R.R. had not yet been built.



	The sites of the houses and the grounds occupied by the Youngs on the hill to the 

left have been laid out with handsome broad avenues and are now (1911 ) occupied by 

comfortable houses, cottages and bungalows.

(  end of page 104 )





*  At the time of typing this book for our Schuylkill list, the sketch referred to in 

the above excerpts was not present .  P.B.