Eckley Miners’ Village

Eckley Miners’ Village opened in 1854 as anthracite coal-mining became the predominant regional industry. Homes and a company store were first established. A colliery (breaker), additional houses, churches, hotel, school and outbuildings erected in the late 19th century reflect the growth of mining and the community in the late 19th century. A series of owners, of both the village and its underlying minerals, controlled the community during its 115 year life as a private concern.

The owners’ lack of investment in the community means the village’s original appearance is readily evident. The village provides today’s visitors with an authentic reflection of life in an anthracite mining town from the 19th to the mid-20th centuries. Paramount Studios selected Eckley as a movie set for the Molly Maguires in 1967-68 because it so well reflected 19th century mining life, the story, and time the movie conveyed. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired the village and opened it as a museum in 1971.

(Inscription below the images on the left) (Image above) , Individual buildings and much of the village as a whole have been well preserved. In this 1873 map, Eckley had a second active street lined with homes and a breaker several hundred feet from the current location. Eckley, like many communities, has changed over time. Thus, the second active street and original breaker are no longer evident in the village today. (Source: Beers Company map, 1873) , (Image to the left) , Eckley Miner’s Village today. More than 200 people lived here when the Commonwealth opened this as a historic site in 1971. Fewer than 20 residents remain today. They and former residents continue to provide insight and information used for historic preservation, interpretation, and telling the stories of Eckley’s past to educate the public on the statewide and national significance of the anthracite region. , (Image below) , Anthracite coal was the heating and iron making fuel of choice for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is only found in quantity in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Eckley Miners’ Village, and other partners throughout northeastern Pennsylvania preserve and tell the story of the anthracite region and its people.