Near Weatherly in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Laborer’s Double Dwelling

Eckley Miners’ Village

— 1854 —

Laborer’s Double Dwelling Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, September 29, 2015

1. Laborer’s Double Dwelling Marker

Inscription. Homes of the unskilled—like all workers’ homes in Eckley—are simple plank and frame with clapboard on the exterior walls and plaster on the inside. The front room served as a bedroom for parents and small children. The rear kitchen had the dining table. Other family members and borders (single men who worked for the colliery) lived in the two second floor bedrooms. Shallow stone cellars provided storage space for food grown in the garden.

Miners extended their lives into back and side yards, first building out-houses and a summer kitchen (the stove was moved seasonally) to remove cooking heat from the home in the summer. Back rooms were added and breezeway rooms connected the house to the summer kitchen. Garden sheds, chicken coops, and other small buildings also reflect survival strategies that emerged as families became stable.

Family members canned fruit and produce, raised and slaughtered small farm animals, made their own cheese, butter or other animal products and otherwise found the chores of survival to be constant. Selling or bartering extra food—produce, baked goods, animal products—and services was essential.

Erected by Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Exploration

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

• Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1854.

Location. 40° 59.674′ N, 75° 51.434′ W. Marker is near Weatherly, Pennsylvania, in Luzerne County. It is on Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2 Eckley Main Street, Weatherly PA 18255, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Pennsylvania’s Anthracite Coal Region,

in the Wyoming Valley,

and in Greater Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. It is also in the American Northeast,

in the Mid-Atlantic,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Eckley Miners’ Village (within shouting distance of this marker); The Slate Picker's House (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Eckley Miners’ Village (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Exploring the Corridor (about 400 feet away); Veterans Memorial Tree (about 400 feet away); The Church of the Immaculate Conception (about 400 feet away); The tree of liberty (about 400 feet away); a different marker also named Eckley Miners' Village (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Weatherly.

Photographed by Don Morfe, September 29, 2015

2. Laborer’s Double Dwelling Marker

Laborer’s Double Dwelling-Halloween image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, September 29, 2015

3. Laborer’s Double Dwelling-Halloween

Out buildings image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, September 29, 2015

4. Out buildings

Credits. This page was last revised on March 13, 2020. It was originally submitted on October 17, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 406 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 17, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.