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My family are coal miners from that area for three generations (Kulpmont, PA). As a kid my uncle used to take us up to Centrailia to see the melted roads. My gr

My family are coal miners from that area for three generations (Kulpmont, PA). As a kid my uncle used to take us up to Centrailia to see the melted roads. My grandfather and two uncles had Black Lung. They used to strike and get beaten by the "police" for it. The coal companies never cared and never will. I saw what they did to these communities. Now they are all suffering from the opioid epidemic[1]. Glad these two are doing some real local reporting. [1] https://www.northcentralpa.com/news/crime/mt-carmel-doctor-pleads-guilty-to-operating-a-massive-pill-mill/article_dfa392fe-1d6c-11ec-b9e0-c76727259971.html https://www.northcentralpa.com/news/crime/mt-carmel-doctor-p...

lc9er 3y ago
My great-grandmother lost two (teenage) brothers in Pennsylvania mining accidents in the early 1900's. The coal companies were more than happy to grind through the expendable, cheap, often immigrant, population of the region.
- FollowingTheDao 3y ago
  Yes, when I was doing my ancestry i found several of my relatives death certificates where cause of death was "Mining Accident", and many of my family were also missing fingers. These are the people who built the county, and what did they get...
- bmc7505 3y ago
  My great-grandfather also perished in a mine collapse near Wilkes-Barre, PA, sometime in the 1920s. I remember my grandfather, who was still a child when it happened, telling me about how the miners were treated. He was forced to take a job selling fruit to support his mother and brother because the mining company refused to pay any death benefits. It's easy to forget how bad the working conditions once were, and I suppose still are in some places today.
sokoloff 3y ago
My parents grew up squarely in coal mining country in south-western PA (Bentleyville, Cokeburg, Eighty-Four [home of 84 Lumber!]). Dad's dad mined coal and Mom's dad worked in the companion industry (steel milling). Fortunately neither was seriously injured from it, but other friends and family members were not as fortunate.

lc9er 3y ago

My great-grandmother lost two (teenage) brothers in Pennsylvania mining accidents in the early 1900's. The coal companies were more than happy to grind through the expendable, cheap, often immigrant, population of the region.

FollowingTheDao 3y ago
Yes, when I was doing my ancestry i found several of my relatives death certificates where cause of death was "Mining Accident", and many of my family were also missing fingers. These are the people who built the county, and what did they get...
bmc7505 3y ago
My great-grandfather also perished in a mine collapse near Wilkes-Barre, PA, sometime in the 1920s. I remember my grandfather, who was still a child when it happened, telling me about how the miners were treated. He was forced to take a job selling fruit to support his mother and brother because the mining company refused to pay any death benefits. It's easy to forget how bad the working conditions once were, and I suppose still are in some places today.

sokoloff 3y ago

My parents grew up squarely in coal mining country in south-western PA (Bentleyville, Cokeburg, Eighty-Four [home of 84 Lumber!]). Dad's dad mined coal and Mom's dad worked in the companion industry (steel milling). Fortunately neither was seriously injured from it, but other friends and family members were not as fortunate.