The Anthracite Museum Complex

The Anthracite Museum Complex

Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission

Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums

Central Division

The Anthracite Museum Complex preserves, documents, and interprets for citizens and visitors the evolving heritage of the people who lived and worked during the 19 th and 20th

centuries in Pennsylvania’s hard coal region.

The Anthracite Region of Northeastern PennsylvaniaSource: Edmunds, W.E., 2002, Coal in Pennsylvania (2nd ed.): Pennsylvania Geological

Survey, 4th ser., Educational Series 7, 28 p.

The Anthracite Heritage Museum, Scranton, Lackawanna County, PA

Anthracite Heritage Museum

• Provides an overview of the economic & institutional development of the region.

• Themes:

• Immigration and Ethnicity.

• Transportation and Communities.

• Formation of Social and Labor Organizations.

• Coal and Textiles History.

The Scranton or Lackawanna Iron Furnaces

Iron Furnaces

• “In fact, America’s industrial revolution in coal and iron began in Pennsylvania—at Scranton, in the Lackawanna Valley.” (Folsom 1981: 11)

• Once the 2nd largest producer of iron (1860s) and 3rd largest steel producer (1890s) in the U.S. 1902 left Scranton.

• An important market for anthracite in the 19th century. Produced railroad T-rails.

Iron Furnaces Outdoor Exhibit Panels

Eckley Miners’ Village, Weatherly, Luzerne County, PA

Eckley

• Focuses on the everyday life of the miner and his family. A “Patch Town.”

• Fifty-eight buildings on site.• Visitors may tour a 1860s & 1880s home.• One Catholic and one Episcopal Church.• Reproduction Coal Breaker• A Doctor’s Office.• A Museum Store and Picnic Area.

Anthracite or Hard Coal•75% of the World’s anthracite is located in northeastern Pennsylvania, in 4 basins, covering 484 square miles in 10 counties.•High carbon content, hard to ignite, burns cleanly & produces little smoke, good heat.• Coal Breakers required for the preparation of anthracite for market.

The Anthracite Industry

The Silk Industry

The Scranton Lace Company

The Garment Industry

Transportation

• Wagons

• Arks

• Canals

• Gravity Railroads

• Railroads

• Motor Vehicles

Transportation

Immigration

Ethnicity

Community

Social & Labor Organizations

The Miner and His Family

Women’s History

Children’s History

Home

Religion

Business

Anthracite as Art

Programs and Events

Collections and Exhibits

Board, Staff and Volunteers

Local Citizens & Visitors

Partners and Sponsors

Upcoming Events

•Saturday, August 30, 2008 and Sunday, August 31, 2008, Professor Richard G. Healey, University of Portsmouth, Great Britain, Book Signing 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., at the Anthracite Heritage Museum. Refreshments and a chance to talk with Richard Healey. The book is 512 pages, numerous figures, plates, tables, images, bibliography and index.

•Railfest at Steamtown National Historic Site, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

•La Festa Italiana, August 30 to September 1, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Museum Store

Membership• We welcome new members to the Anthracite Heritage Museum &

Iron Furnaces Associates, Inc., the community friends group.• Formed in 1982 as a non-profit corporation to assist & support.• Benefits:• Free admission to the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Scranton Iron

Furnaces and Eckley Miner’s Village.• The Miner’s Lamp newsletter.• Invitation to special events and exhibit openings.• Advance notice of upcoming lectures, workshops and programs.• Discount in the Museum Store.• Use of the Museum Library by appointment with Curators.• Find us on the web at www.anthracitemuseum.org• Thank you!