EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA ANTHRACITE COALFIELDS

SOUTHERN ANTHRACITE COALFIELD SCHUYLKILL, DAUPHIN, CARBON, and LEBANON COUNTIES

WESTERN MIDDLE ANTHRACITE COALFIELD NORTHUMBERLAND, SCHUYLKILL, and COLUMBIA COUNTIES

EASTERN MIDDLE ANTHRACITE COALFIELD LUZERNE, SCHUYLKILL, and CARBON COUNTIES

NORTHERN ANTHRACITE COALFIELD LUZERNE, LACKAWANNA, SUSQUEHANNA, AND WAYNE COUNTIES

LOYALSOCK COALFIELD SULLIVAN AND WYOMING COUNTIES

(There are also the Bituminous coalfields of Western Pennsylvania.)

Anthracite coal is harder than bituminous or lignite coal and has a much higher carbon content and BTU rating. It is found in various areas around America, but the most extensive and productive deposits have been in eastern Pennsylvania. American Indians and colonial settlers gradually discovered the use of anthracite coal as a fuel in the 1700s. The Lehigh Coal Mining Company was formed in 1792 to mine coal at Summit Hill. (This firm was known as Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company after 1822.) At first, Pennsylvania anthracite coal was transported to East Coast markets by a system of canals. By the 1850s, railroads became the main source of transportation. Coal companies built their own private towns, and it was here and the Georges Creek Coalfield of Maryland that the pattern of coal company "patch" towns developed. The anthracite coal industry unevenly grew throughtout the second half of the 19th century, welcoming waves of immigrant families from Ireland, U.K., eastern and southern Europe, and even Scandinavian countries. Pennsylvania anthracite mining peaked in 1917 with approximately 100 million tons of coal mined by about 181,000 miners. The industry rose and fell and rose and fell throughout the rest of the 20th century. Private mining towns were sold to their inhabitants, and surface mining gradually replaced most underground mining. However, the industry is not dead yet, and on my two trips to the Coal Region in 2024 and 2025, I witnessed plenty of mining activity.