Anthracite, or "hard coal" has been mined in northeast Pennsylvania since the early 19th-century. By mid-century, this valuable resource that could burn longer and more efficiently than softer coal mined elsewhere in Pennsylvania, was heavily unearthed and sent to cities on the east coast. Towns such as Hazleton, illustrated here in this bird's-eye view, grew up around anthracite mining activities, and by the 1880s was home to a large immigrant population from Eastern Europe who worked in the mines, as well as wealthy mine owners. "Hazleton Mines" is pictured in the upper left of the view, and two breakers, or processing plants, are situated on rail lines in the lower right.
IIIF Manifest