Digging Dusky Diamonds by John R. Lindermuth

Even viewed from a cultural or literary point of view, their excerpts are interesting. Lindermuth obviously combed through archival copies of newspapers to get the best stories for us. The result is a terrific piece of local history. We gain selected insights into these past lives. Many people collected seemingly abandoned coal, just to survive. And we even learn about the 'bootlegging' that individuals did during the Depression and afterward. We are reminded of the underground fires that have taken place over the years. We consider the mules that did a lot of the work, right beside the miners. The decades after the Civil War to the turn of the last century are the ones especially spotlighted here.Īlong the way, we learn some interesting tidbits. Though some coal is still mined in the area today, the author explains how far its production fell during the 1900s, especially after the Depression. He covers the generalities of everyday life at the time, as well as the specifics of the lives of the miners, including the labor issues they faced. Then, focusing mostly on the 1800s, he tells of the development of the industry in the region. Lindermuth begins with the discovery of coal at Shamokin in 1790.

Who would be better qualified to sort through the old records and newspapers and explain to us what was what, way back when? He's a retired journalist, editor, historian and genealogist. And it further centers on Northumberland County and the city of Shamokin, the home of the author. To clarify: this book is a history of the people and culture of the eastern Pennsylvania coal region. The commonwealth of Pennsylvania is geologically blessed with deposits of two types of coal: anthracite (hard coal) in the eastern counties of Northumberland, Schuylkill, Columbia, Luzerne and Lackawanna, and bituminous (soft coal) in most of the counties west of the Allegheny Mountain ridgeline. Lindermuth, Digging Dusky Diamonds: A History of the Pennsylvania Coal RegionĪ History of the Pennsylvania Coal Region

Digging Dusky Diamonds by John R. Lindermuth