A photograph from the 1880s of a group of laborers in Schuylkill County who were responsible for building railroads.
The photo, which is from the Schuylkill County Historical Society, was published in the “Looking Back” feature of the Pottsville Republican, March 29, 1980. The text is by Joseph M. Hanney, who was the vice president of the society.
Chinese laborers may well have pushed the railroad through the far western frontier, but a far hardier group swarmed over Schuylkill County during the 19th Century.
With pick and shovel they dug tunnels, carved mountainsides and laid track. Expert stonemasons built arches and trestles. They came from all nationalities and colors. Many were barely in their teens.
Pictures is a crew working on the “Pennsy” railroad during the late 1880s.
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From Newspapers.com.
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