Coaldale is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

in Schuylkill County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States. Initially settled in 1827, it was incorporated in 1906 from part of the former Rahn Township; it is named for the coal industry—wherein, it was one of the principal early mining centers. Coaldale is in the southern Anthracite Coal region in the

Panther Creek Valley In Eastern Pennsylvania, the valley of the Panther Creek tributary of the Little Schuylkill River, a very small and relatively short mountain creek, was historically important due to its stranglehold on energy production, a key region central to ...

, a tributary of the

Little Schuylkill River The Little Schuylkill River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Schuylkill River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It rises south of McAdoo He ...

, along which U.S. Route 209 was eventually built between the steep climb up

Pisgah Mountain Pisgah Mountain or Pisgah Ridge (on older USGS maps) is a ridgeline running from Tamaqua to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania (from the Little Schuylkill River water gap to the Lehigh River water gap). It is oriented north-northeast to south-southwe ...

from Nesquehoning (easterly) and its outlet in Tamaqua, approximately five miles to the west. The town is virtually joined at the hip to nearby Lansford, to its immediate east—as both were founded as company towns on lands owned by and mined by the

Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a mining and transportation company headquartered in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, now known as Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. The company operated from 1818 until its dissolution in 1964 and played an early and i ...

(LC&N) while technically ''on opposite sides of the county lines''. The history, business situation, and fortunes of not just the two, but of three towns, the third being the nearby

Summit Hill Summit Hill is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 3,034 at the 2010 census. Summit Hill has a storied history as the western terminus of the United States' second operational ...

, located a few thousand feet upslope, were tied in decades of co-development because the LC&N had built the western terminus of the nation's second railroad, the Summit Hill and Mauch Chunk Gravity Railway to ship coal out, and opened multiple mines throughout Coaldale and Lansford and the rest of the Panther Creek Valley in the days when railroads were coming into their own. The town has a bus stop with a mural on one side reading: "Everybody's Goal Is Mine More Coal" and the other side reading: "A Car More a Day Means More Pay". The area on the western border of the borough is known as Seek. There is a historical marker for Mother Jones located in Coaldale, as she organized many strikes and protests on behalf of coal miners around the country for improved pay, safer work environment and child labor laws. She organized a march for child workers that started in Coaldale and proceeded to McAdoo. At one trial for Mary Jones, a prosecution lawyer famously said, "there sits the most dangerous woman in America... to put down their tools and walk out". Herbert Whildin was elected mayor in 2017.

History

The origins of today's Coaldale have their beginnings in West Penn and Rahn townships. Rahn Township was formed from West Penn Township in 1860. Initially, the land was developed for its timber tracts, with only a few farms to indicate an attempt at agriculture. The beginnings of present-day Coaldale date from 1827, when John Moser and his wife settled there. Moser was born on May 24, 1805, in Tamaqua and was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Burkardt Moser, the original settlers of Tamaqua. Upon arriving at a site that is present day Coaldale, John Moser built a log cabin on the north side of what was known as the Manila Grove Park. Today, the St. Luke's Hospital is located on this site. Coaldale (alternatively known in the 19th century as Coal Dale) developed from scattered villages. The first dwelling houses (other than Moser's) were erected nearby in 1846 in what was known as Bugtown, located along the main road directly below the current St. Luke's Hospital. Houses were then erected in 1848 at old Coal Dale on the Summit Hill road.Munsell History Gearytown was established in 1866. That village was named in honor of the then Pennsylvania Governor, John W. Geary. Houses in Bull Run were erected in 1864 by the Greenwood Coal Co., run by Charles F. Shoener and William Carter (who purchased the nearby breaker of the same name). Shortly after the mines began working, the population increased, and many new dwellings were built, practically all by the company.History of Coaldale, Pa. 1827 New Wales, or New Coal Dale, began later in 1868 or 1869. Housing on the line of Schuylkill and

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon ma ...

counties were erected beginning in 1870. Centerville was located on the south side of Coaldale but was abandoned because of mines located beneath the surface. Coal Dale received a post office in 1871, thereby formalizing the name. The Greenwood breaker burned down in 1874 and in 1878 the Lehigh Navigation and Coal Co. purchased this property. Coaldale was in the midst of the following LC&N mines - Nos. 4-6, Lansford; Nos. 8, 9, 12, Coaldale; Nos. 10 and 15, Greenwood; No. 11, Rahn; and No. 14, Tamaqua. Coaldale was historically a coal-mining town, where the entire region was effectively the property of the

. The mine, the railroads the LC&N put in and a small shirt factory were the main historic industries in Coaldale. Because of the adverse topology, the LC&N took several decades to survey and drive a railbed with a negotiable grade from Mauch Chunk through Nesquehoning, along the Nesquehoning ridge to

Hometown Hometown, HomeTown, or Home Town may refer to: *A hometown, the town where someone lives or the town that they come from, typically their place of birth. *In developing nations particularly: native place, village of origin in newly urbanized soc ...

, and then up the Panther Creek Valley from Tamaqua. Coaldale also became the site of a

State Hospital The State Hospital (also known as Carstairs Hospital, or simply Carstairs) is a psychiatric hospital near the village of Carstairs Junction, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It provides care and treatment in conditions of high security for aro ...

that was established to take care of coal miners. During the early years of mining in the Panther Valley, badly injured miners were taken to Ashland or Pottsville. This took a great deal of time. In 1909, the miners of the valley volunteered a pay day for the construction of a hospital, while the LC&N donated a site for the building and matched every dollar donated. The area chosen for the hospital was Manila Grove, a park near where John Moser had built his first home. The hospital was completed on July 11, 1910. and exists today as St. Luke's Miners Memorial Medical Center. Some notable people come from here including: *Former pro football player

Johnny Gildea John Thomas Gildea (March 9, 1910 – November 20, 1979) was an American football quarterback, punter and halfback who played four seasons in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. Early life Gild ...

* George Welsh, an all American quarterback at the US Naval Academy and successful college head coach at the US Naval Academy and the University of Virginia *Miner-musician Albert B. Morgan, who wrote and recorded his song Union Man in the Newkirk Tunnel in 1946 for

George Korson George Korson (August 8, 1899 – May 23, 1967) was a folklorist, journalist, and historian. He has been cited as a pioneer collector of industrial folklore, and according to Michael Taft of the Library of Congress, "may very well be conside ...

of the Library of Congress compilation of Miner Songs. *Asia Charity Eriksen, artist and creator of WerePups

Geography

Coaldale is located at (40.822234, -75.910115), which is (technically) one mile southwest of Lansford as both municipalities lie along the border of

and Schuylkill Counties. It is also five miles northeast of Tamaqua, 27 miles northwest of

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...

, and nine miles south of Hazleton. It is located on the northwestern fringe of the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

and just two ridgelines away from the nearby Poconos, and drains to the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

by way of Panther Creek, the Little Schuylkill River, and the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

. Coaldale sits atop one of the richest coal seams in the eastern end of the southern

Coal 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 region is typically defined as compris ...

, which is still being exploited by a successor company of the LC&N (called the Old Company in the valley), the

Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LCAN) (1988–2010) was a modern-day anthracite coal mining company headquartered in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. It acquired many properties and relaunched the Lehigh Coal Companies brand in 1988. The LCAN r ...

(or the New Company). Coaldale's elevation is 1050 feet above sea level. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the borough has a total area of , all land. Coaldale is served by U.S. Route 209, which runs through neighboring Lansford's business district, serving both municipalities as their main thoroughfare. The borough's terrain is mostly hilly, many of those ancient mine tailings or culm piles, and when not developed, its lands are mostly

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 2,295 people, 1,046 households, and 606 families residing in the borough. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 1,055.2 people per square mile (408.3/km²). There were 1,209 housing units at an average density of 555.9/sq mi (215.1/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.34%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.31%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.04% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.57% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 1.13% of the population. There were 1,046 households, out of which 22.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.0% were non-families. 38.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 24.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.84. In the borough the population was spread out, with 19.2% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 28.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $23,362, and the median income for a family was $31,905. Males had a median income of $28,317 versus $18,083 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the borough was $14,021. About 8.3% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 23.7% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.

Architecture

Coaldale's combined town hall and fire department building was constructed in 1907 to the designs of the Wilkes-Barre architect, Owen McGlynn.

Gallery

File:Church on Ruddle St, Coaldale, Schuylkill County PA 01.JPG, Church on Ruddle St. File:Ruddle St, Coaldale, Schuylkill County PA.JPG, Ruddle St. File:Former Bank, Coaldale, Schuylkill County PA 01.JPG, Former bank, 1910 File:Post Office, Coaldale, Schuylkill County PA.JPG, Post Office File:Coaldale War Memorial, Schuylkill County PA.JPG, War Memorial

References

External links

Coaldale Borough
* {{authority control Populated places established in 1871 Municipalities of the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania Boroughs in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania 1871 establishments in Pennsylvania