Burd Patterson. Anthracite pioneer. He developed slope method for mining below water table, 1835. His Pottsville Furnace was the first successful smelter of anthracite iron, 1839-40. His home, built 1830-35, was first of the mansions to line Mahantongo St.
803 Mahantongo St., Pottsville, PA, United States
Molly Maguire Executions. On June 21, 1877, six "Molly Maguires," an alleged secret society of Irish mine- workers, were hanged here. Pinkerton detective James McParlan's testimony led to convictions for violent crimes against the coal industry, yet the facts of the labor, class, and ethnic conflicts, even the existence of the organization, remain contested. Four others were hanged on this day at the county jail in Mauch Chunk; ten more were executed in Pa. through 1879.
at Schuylkill County Prison, Sanderson St., Pottsville, PA, United States
Schuylkill County. Formed March 1, 1811 out of Northampton and Berks counties. Parts of Columbia and Luzerne counties added 1818. The name honors the Schuylkill River. County seat, Pottsville, was made a borough in 1828; city in 1911. A center of the anthracite coal industry.
SE corner, Laurel Blvd. & N 2nd St., Pottsville, PA, United States
Pottsville Maroons. The legendary team played as a member of the National Football League here, 1925-28. In 1925 the Maroons compiled a record widely viewed as the league's best. They climaxed their season by defeating Notre Dame in a well publicized pro vs. college match in Philadelphia-but then were denied the NFL championship in a controversial league decision. Despite strong regional support, their franchise moved to Boston in 1929.
N Center St. between Arch and Race Sts., Pottsville, PA, United States
John O'Hara. This was the home, from 1916 to 1928, of one of America's best known novelists and short-story writers. Born at Pottsville in 1905, he used this anthracite region as a setting for several of his major works. O'Hara died at Princeton, N.J., in 1970.
606 Mahantongo St., Pottsville, PA, United States