FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
HOW COAL CAN BENEFIT YOU
COLLIERY ARTICLES
THE STORY OF ANTHRACITE
OLD ST. NICHOLAS BREAKER
NEW ST. NICHOLAS BREAKER
THE COMMENTATOR GLOSSARY OF
ANTHRACITE MINING TERMS

History indicates that in 1790, Anthracite, or hard coal, was discovered in Schuylkill County at the southern end of the coal
fields in north eastern Pennsylvania. These coal fields extend 50 miles east and west, and 100 miles north and south, and cover approximately 484 square miles, containing the richest deposits
of anthracite in the world.

By 1817, less than 30 years after its discovery, a number of small, individual Anthracite mines had been opened.

In 1822, it was reported that 1488 tons of Anthracite had been shipped by canal from the Schuylkill Region, and the industry,
as a business, had its beginning. Development was rapid, and by 1825 the Schuylkill Canal was completed, providing transportation of Anthracite from Pottsville to Philadelphia. The barges of "arks," originally pulled by men using breast bars and long tow ropes, took six weeks to travel the 108 miles. After tow paths for the mules were laid parallel to the canal, the boat or barge sizes were increased from 28 to 200 tons and the amount of coal transported grew dramatically.

In 1842, the first train from Philadelphia made the trip to
Pottsville to compete for the coal trade. That year, the canal
and the railroad together, shipped 500,000 tons of Anthracite
to Philadelphia.

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