Eckley Miners' Village

Last updated

Eckley Miners' Village
ECKLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT.jpg
Miner housing in May 1970
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Eckley Miners' Village in Pennsylvania
Established1970
Location Foster Township, U.S.
(near Hazleton)
Coordinates 40°59′36″N75°51′46″W / 40.99333°N 75.86278°W / 40.99333; -75.86278
Curator Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Eckley Historic District
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationBoth sides of Main St. through Eckley, Pennsylvania
Area73.2 acres (29.6 ha)
Built1870
ArchitectSharpe, Weiss & Co.
Architectural styleGothic
NRHP reference No. 71000710 [1]
Added to NRHPOctober 26, 1971

Eckley Miners' Village in eastern Pennsylvania is an anthracite coal mining patch town located in Foster Township, Pennsylvania. Since 1970, Eckley has been owned and operated as a museum by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Contents

History

Early years

Before the 1850s, Eckley was not a mining town, but a rural, forested community called Shingletown. It was located on land owned by Tench Coxe. The inhabitants took advantage of the surrounding woodlands and made shingles to be sold in White Haven and Hazleton. These goods were traded for the necessities of life, such as "whiskey, port, and tobacco".

Coal

In 1853, four prospectors came to Shingletown and found that the land contained several veins of coal. Within the year these four men, Richard Sharpe, Asa Lansford Foster, Francis Weiss, and John Leisenring, formed Sharpe, Leisenring and Company, later known as Sharpe, Weiss, and Company. Judge Charles Coxe of Philadelphia, executor of the Tench Coxe Estate, granted the company a 20-year lease for the establishment and operation of a colliery on these 1,500 acres (610 ha). In 1854, the company began work on the Council Ridge Colliery.

By autumn of 1854, the company had constructed a saw mill to provide lumber necessary for the colliery buildings, including the breaker, stable, and store house. They also began building a village to house the colliery workers. The scattered forest dwellings of the residents of Shingletown were quickly replaced by two rows of red wooden frame houses with black trim. This new village was called Fillmore, presumably in honor of President Millard Fillmore who left office in 1853. Several years later, the company applied for a post office for their town and learned that a town in Centre County had already appropriated the name. As a result, the town was renamed Eckley in 1857 in honor of Judge Coxe's eldest son, Eckley B. Coxe who was then 17 years old. In later years, Eckley Coxe, an engineer, became involved in the operations in the town of his name.

European Immigrants

The first residents of Eckley were mostly English and Welsh immigrants who came from the mines in Great Britain. There also were Germans living in the village who were brought to the colliery as engineers.

By the late 1850s and early 1860s, these colliers were joined by groups of Irish farmers who had immigrated to America after the devastating Great Famine in their homeland. The Irish were generally unskilled in the field of mining and so received the lowest-skilled, lowest-paying jobs. Over time, the Irish learned the skills of mining and moved into better-paying, higher-skilled jobs. By the time of the 1880s and 1890s, the low-skill jobs were being taken by the new wave of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. These groups included peoples from Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Italy. The new immigrants took many years to develop the knowledge and skills to move into the higher-skilled positions in the colliery.

Many of these immigrants came to America expecting to work in the mines just long enough to save money, buy land, and return to the farming lifestyle they had known in Europe. Once they became part of the company-owned system, however, very few were able to escape the years of poverty and hardship that faced them.

Museum

The site is now run as a museum with an indoor and outdoor component by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Buildings that are part of the museum include: the Immaculate Conception Church (1861), three "slate pickers houses" (1854), larger laborers' dwellings (1854), St. James Episcopal Church (1859), mine boss's houses (1860), the doctor's office (1874), and the Sharpe House (1861). [2]

Molly Maguires

This wooden coal breaker was later built for The Molly Maguires, a 1970 film depicting the Molly Maguires The wooden "coal breaker" featured heavily in the film.jpg
This wooden coal breaker was later built for The Molly Maguires , a 1970 film depicting the Molly Maguires
Houses in the back of the village A street view of some of the houses heading towards the back of the village..jpg
Houses in the back of the village

Film

The Molly Maguires , a 1970 film, was filmed in Eckley in 1969. The wooden "coal breaker" featured heavily in the film was built as a prop. It received little or no maintenance over the years and, even though it has been called a "tinderbox", still stands. The company store was also built as a prop for the movie and still exists today.

The filming of this movie resulted in the town's being saved from demolition, and was afterward turned into a mining museum under the control of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Town geography

Traveling east to west down Main Street the houses become larger toward the end of town. Like most industrial companies of the 19th century, Sharpe, Weiss and Company planned the village with the occupation and rent paying abilities of their workers in mind. In Eckley, the mine owners lived at the western end of town. The original company store, mule barn, hotel and doctor's office were also located there.

Mine foremen and their families rented the single dwellings located just east of the downtown. First class miners, those men with experience in mining, were assigned the 2+12-story double houses in the middle of the village. These were larger than the 1+12-story double dwellings rented to their assistants or laborers.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Foster Township is a township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The population was 3,413 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania</span> Census-designated place in Pennsylvania, United States

Glen Lyon is a census-designated place (CDP) in Newport Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,873 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazleton, Pennsylvania</span> City in Pennsylvania, United States

Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,963 at the 2020 census. Hazleton is the second largest city in Luzerne County. It was incorporated as a borough on January 5, 1857, and as a city on December 4, 1891.

Seven Sisters is a village and community in the Dulais Valley, Wales, UK. It lies 10 miles (16 km) north-east of Neath. Seven Sisters falls within the Seven Sisters ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tench Coxe</span> American politician

Tench Coxe was an American political economist and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1788–1789. He wrote under the pseudonym "A Pennsylvanian," and was known to his political enemies as "Mr. Facing Bothways."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bootleg mining</span> Type of illegal coal mining

Bootleg mining or shoemaker mining is a form of illegal coal mining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal Region</span> Pennsylvania region

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

The history of coal mining goes back thousands of years, with early mines documented in ancient China, the Roman Empire and other early historical economies. It became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was primarily used to power steam engines, heat buildings and generate electricity. Coal mining continues as an important economic activity today, but has begun to decline due to the strong contribution coal plays in global warming and environmental issues, which result in decreasing demand and in some geographies, peak coal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lattimer massacre</span> 1897 killing of striking miners by police in Pennsylvania

In the Lattimer massacre, at least 19 unarmed striking immigrant anthracite miners were killed violently at the Lattimer mine near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, United States, on September 10, 1897. The miners, mostly of Polish, Slovak, Lithuanian and German ethnicity, were shot and killed by a Luzerne County sheriff's posse. Scores more workers were wounded. The massacre was a turning point in the history of the United Mine Workers (UMW).

<i>The Molly Maguires</i> (film) 1970 film by Martin Ritt

The Molly Maguires is a 1970 American historical drama film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sean Connery and Richard Harris. It is based on the 1964 book Lament for the Molly Maguires by Arthur H. Lewis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitsett, Pennsylvania</span> Unincorporated community in Pennsylvania, United States

Whitsett is an unincorporated community in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately 30 miles (50 km) south of Pittsburgh. The population is estimated at 200. It was founded in 1845 by Ralph C. Whitsett Sr. He and his family built a large red brick house in 1873, which still stands today. The community is made up of mostly “company” houses that were built for workers who worked in a large coal mine located nearby; the mine was Banning #21. Most of the houses were ½ houses built to accommodate two families. The mine has been closed since 1954 and most of the houses have been renovated and turned into single-family dwellings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum</span> Coal industry museum in Pennsylvania , United States

The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum preserves the heritage of anthracite coal mining in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania and is located in McDade Park in Scranton. It features exhibits detailing the industrial history of northeastern Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of coal mining in the United States</span>

The history of coal mining in the United States starts with the first commercial use in 1701, within the Manakin-Sabot area of Richmond, Virginia. Coal was the dominant power source in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and although in rapid decline it remains a significant source of energy in 2023.

The Avondale Colliery was a coal mine in Plymouth Township, Luzerne County, near Plymouth, Pennsylvania in the small town of Avondale. The mine was considered to be "one of the best and worst" operating in Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avondale Mine disaster</span>

The Avondale Mine disaster was a massive fire at the Avondale Colliery near Plymouth Township, Pennsylvania, on September 6, 1869. It caused the death of 110 workers. It started when the wooden lining of the mine shaft caught fire and ignited the coal breaker built directly overhead. The shaft was the only entrance and exit to the mine, and the fire trapped and suffocated 108 of the workers. It was the greatest mine disaster to that point in American history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Bretz (photographer)</span> American photographer

George M. Bretz (1842–1895) was an American photographer who is best known for his photographs of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Coal Region and its coal miners.

The Tarenni Colliery and its associated workings, are a series of coal mines and pits located between the villages of Godre'r Graig and Cilybebyll located in the valley of the River Tawe, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of coal miners</span>

People have worked as coal miners for centuries, but they became increasingly important during the Industrial revolution when coal was burnt on a large scale to fuel stationary and locomotive engines and heat buildings. Owing to coal's strategic role as a primary fuel, coal miners have figured strongly in labor and political movements since that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asa Lansford Foster</span>

Asa Lansford Foster was a Pennsylvanian geologist, merchant, and coal mine owner. He was also a geologist, mining engineer, and publisher and was one of the pioneers of the anthracite industry. He was a native of Massachusetts but immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1818. Foster married Louisa Trott Chapman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eckley Brinton Coxe</span> American politician

Eckley Brinton Coxe was an American mining engineer, coal baron, state senator and philanthropist from Pennsylvania. He was a co-founder of the Coxe Brothers and Company coal mining operation which became the largest individual producer of anthracite coal in the United States at the time.

References

  1. "National Register Information System  (#71000710)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Eckley Miners' Village Museum & Village". Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved December 1, 2021.

Further reading