COAL REGION, PENNSYLVANIA — There are smells that can take you back to a particular place faster than a photograph. Walk near a church bazaar or a fire-company picnic in Schuylkill County, catch the aroma of grated potatoes browning in hot oil, and you might hear...
SHENANDOAH, PENNSYLVANIA — Stand on a Shenandoah street today and imagine the sound of three competing railroads, the whistles of collieries, church bells in a dozen traditions and sidewalks crowded with people speaking several languages. It can be difficult to...
MAHANOY TOWNSHIP, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY — Long before the coal breakers, crowded row houses and railroad depots, a merchant traveled the mountain road through what would become the Mahanoy Valley. His death in 1797 gave the area one of its oldest recorded crime stories....
