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holography by
Dominic DeCintitli:,l
A brief history
ne of hundreds of mining towns or
doped in the anthracite region during the
ury.
carpe, Weiss and Company leased land
h Coxe estate and began work on the
Colliery and the village of Eckley. The
ar the colliery where the coal was mined
provided housing for the miners• and their
wes, schools and churches supplied the
al and religious needs of the tenants It
ompany greater control over the lives of
when Sharpe and VVeiss's 'lease-expired;
per operated the colliery themselves: or
:kley to other coal companies. The Tench
d its holdings, including Eckley, to George
lage was separated from the mining
969 when Huss sold Eckley to the
oric Site Museum, Inc., a group of Greater
businessmen; they, in turn, deeded it to
fealth of Pennsylvania. In 1971, Louis
'red the land around Eckley and has
nine the coal first exploited by Sharpe,
npany
)eriod other changes took place. Through
successive waves of immigrants seeking
portunities and religious or political
ish, Welsh and German _miners were
by Irish and then southern and eastern
lese formed an ethnic mosaic found
anthracite region.
le time, strip mining, begun in 1890,
ced underground mining. The land around
of the village were stripped away. The
the colliery and the population of Eckley,
red fifteen hundred people in 1870,
370, only a hundred people remained.
le Colliery has disappeared but Eckley lives
my town until its acquisition by the
listorical and Museum Commission, Eckley
3‘,/ of life which dominated the anthracite
r 140 years.
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Guided Tour
Eckley, as with many mining
and industrial villages, was a
planned community. As you walk
through the village you may note
the differences in size and ar
chitecture of the dwellings, from
the double family dwellings near
the visitors' center to the large
single houses of the mine owners
at the far end of the village.
1. Visitors Center. Rest
Rooms. OPEN TO TEE PUBLIC.
2. Rectory e. Ifl6l.occupied.
3. Immaculate Conception
Roman Catholic Church. Built
1861. Open to the Public.
4. Double Family Dwelling.
Typical of the smaller two-family
houses originally built for ,, the
laborers and breaker workers.
Occupied.
5. Foundation of double dwell
ings.
6. Back Street. The last
, .. . . .
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Main Street
A NINETEENTH CENTURY ANTHRACITE
MINING COMMUNITY .
original house on a street of
thirty-two dwellings. Occupied.
7. Eckley Social and Sports
Club, c. 1946. Emerald House
false front added for Paramount
Studios' production of The. Molly
Maguires. Occupied. -
8. Miner's Double Dwelling,
furnished, c. 1890. One side
represents furnishings of recent
immigrant; other side has fur
nishings of established miner.
Open to the Public.
9. Mule Barn, c. 1968. Prop for
The Molly Maguires.
10. Company Store, c. 1968.
Prop for The Molly Maguires.
Museum shop and snack bar.
Olken t444oPilblie.
11. Breaker; e. 1968. Prop , for
The Molly Maguires.
12. Double Family Dwelling.
Typical of the larger two-family
houses originally built for the
Thellighacrioilietian-7
miners. Occupied.
13. Single Family Dwelling.
Originally built for the colliery
superintendents and mine
foremen. Under developtu 7 tal:,,
14. Site of Fresh 4tan
Church, c. 1859.
15. St. James Episcopal
Church, c. 1859. Open to the
Public.
16. Waste water and trailings
from operating breaker; flows in
to holding area or silt dam across
the road.
17. Foundation of Eckley
Hotel, c. 1858.
18. Doctor's Office. Later a
single-family dwelling. Under
devekopinint.
19. Site of original Company
Store.
20. Mine owners' houses
Under development.