Pennsylvania’s rich coal mining history dates back centuries to the late 1700s and boomed between 1870 and 1930. After the boom, the industry began a steady decline that continues to the present day. In fact, between September 2014 and April 2016, the industry as a whole in the U.S. lost an estimated 191,000 jobs. Here are 15 rare coal mining photos from Pennsylvania that provide a glimpse into the coal mining industry’s vibrant past.

  1. Children work in the coal mines, while being supervised by an adult with a stick, in Wilkes-Barre in 1906.

Flickr/Janet Lindenmuth

  1. A woman and a child hard at work pick coal at Nanty Glo in Cambria. Individuals earned ten cents, in 1937, for each 100 pound sack they collected.

Photogrammar/Ben Shahn

  1. Coal is washed at the St. Nicholas Breaker in Gilberton in this 1938 photo by Sheldon Dick.

Photogrammar/Sheldon Dick

  1. A shaft tower at Maple Hill Mine in Schuylkill is seen in this 1938 photo by Sheldon Dick.

Photogrammer/Sheldon Dick

  1. Photographer Sheldon Dick captures an inspector carefully checking the coal as it passes on a loading belt.

Photogrammer/Sheldon Dick

  1. Cars are in line to head down to the mine shafts at Maple Hill Mine in Schuylkill County in this 1938 photo by Sheldon Dick.

Photogrammer/Sheldon Dick

  1. Miners with the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Company enter a cage that will take them to the mine’s bottom. Photo taken by John Collier in 1942.

Photogrammar/John Collier

  1. A 1942 photo by John Collier shows a coal miner preparing for a blast at Pittsburgh Coal Company’s Montour Number Four Mine.

Photogrammar/John Collier

  1. Children of coal miners employed by the Buckeye Coal Company in Greene County, Pennsylvania, attended this school in the mid-1940s.

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

  1. This 1946 photo shows the breaker plant at The St. Clair Coal Company in Schuylkill County.

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

  1. Coal miners and their families resided in this neighborhood housing project run by the Buckeye Coal Company, who owned the Nemacolin Mine, in 1946.

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

  1. During some of their down time, coal miners with the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Company in Washington County hang out at the company’s recreation area.

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

  1. Coal miners with the Westland Mine congregate outside of the foreman’s office at the Pittsburgh Coal Company in this 1946 photo.

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

  1. Employees shop at Henry Clay Frick Coal Company’s store in Washington County in this 1946 photo.

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

  1. A shot of the The St. Clair Coal Company in St. Clair, Pennsylvania in 1946.

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

These 15 rare coal mining photos from Pennsylvania give us a look into what life was like for miners and their families in the early part of the 20th century. Click here to view a rare video from Pennsylvania in the 1940s.

Flickr/Janet Lindenmuth

Photogrammar/Ben Shahn

Photogrammar/Sheldon Dick

Photogrammer/Sheldon Dick

Photogrammar/John Collier

Photogrammar/John Collier

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

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