A brief article appearing in the West Schuylkill Herald, July 5, 1967, described a display in the newspaper office window of sketches made in 1888 of Tower City and Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The article also told some history of the communities of the area, including name changes that took places over the years as well as the disappearance of the coal mining village of Kalmia.
Does any blog reader know what happened to the sketches, particularly those reflecting the transportation history of the Tower City and Porter Township?
SKETCHES OF PORTER-TOWER DISPLAYED At HERALD OFFICE
A large size framed picture of the Tower City and Porter Township area is on display in a window at the Herald office, and is attracting much attention from residents and visitors, particularly the older ones who recall the days and the appearance of the valley as it was in 1888 when the pen sketches were made.
It shows the streets and buildings as they existed 79 years ago. Kalmia was then a thriving village south of Orwin. With the closing of the tunnel the village in time disappeared, and today the only semblance of the village is a few overgrown stones of former foundations and the remains of a coal dirt bank.
The village of Orwin was then known as Johnstown; Muir as Reiner City; and Reinerton at Bearmont. Sheridan is the only village in Porter Township outside of Tower City that has detained its original name.
Enlarged sketches of some of the leading stores, hotels and residences are shown. The Tower City railroad station at that time was just below the East Brookside colliery, and was reached by a team road from Reinerton. Freight and express were transported up and down the mountain by horse drawn wagons, and the passengers by a stage coach. The Philadelphia and Reading railroad then extended only to West Brookside colliery, its principal revenue having been derived from transportation of coal. The Williams Valley Railroad extending from the junction with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad north of Tower City to Tower City, Williamstown and Lykens, was built in later years as these mining towns expanded.
What is now Tower City borough was then a part of Porter Township. It was laid out by Charlemagne Tower in 1868, and this borough will have a celebration in 1968 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of its founding.
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News article from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.