(4) Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming Valley
discovered the anthracite coal seams in 1762.
(5) In 1775, mining of anthracite started in
northeastern Pennsylvania in Pittston.
(6) The first industrial use of anthracite, for heating
and drawing iron in the making of nails, was recorded in
1788.
(7) Anthracite was discovered in the Schuylkill region
in 1790 and in the Lehigh region in 1792.
(8) The first recorded anthracite coal company, the
Lehigh Coal Mining Company, sent the first significant
shipments of anthracite out of the coal field region in 1820.
(9) In 1869, the Pennsylvania Department of Mines was
established with the nation's first stringent mine safety
laws to follow in 1870.
(10) In 1959, the Knox mine coal disaster ended deep
coal mining in the northern anthracite fields in this
Commonwealth.
(11) The anthracite ranges cover 500 square miles in
Dauphin, Schuylkill, Northumberland, Columbia, Carbon,
Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne and Susquehanna counties.
(12) Anthracite, historically referred to as "stone
coal," is one of this Commonwealth's most significant natural
resources.
(13) In 1971, to help preserve and share the rich
history of Pennsylvania anthracite the Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commission created the Anthracite
Museum Complex, consisting of three museums, the Pennsylvania
Anthracite Heritage Museum, the Eckley Miners' Village and
the Museum of Anthracite Mining, and one historical site, the
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