The West Side Carbondale, Pennsylvania Mine Fire (Pennsylvania Heritage Books) - Softcover

Munley, Kathleen Purcell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589662121 ISBN 13: 9781589662124

Publisher: University of Scranton Press, 2011

Synopsis

In early 1947 residents of the west side of Carbondale, Pennsylvania began noticing a peculiar steam escaping from the ground. An investigation into this phenomenon revealed that Carbondale was slowly but steadily being destroyed by a burning inferno deep below its surface—a fire raging through the deserted anthracite coal mine shafts that twisted and turned beneath that part of the city. After several years of attempting to contain the fire by flushing, municipal leaders decided that the only sure way of eliminating the threat to the community was by digging it out. To eradicate the burning menace, hundreds of homes and buildings were purchased and destroyed, and what was once a vibrant neighborhood became an abandoned wasteland.

            
Historian Kathleen Purcell Munley narrates here the story of this great fire, identifying its source, tracing its history, and, through personal interviews with former Carbondale residents, reveals its physical and psychological toll. The mine fire destroyed the West Side as it was, but this volume will keep its memory alive and preserve an important chapter in the history of Carbondale and Pennsylvania.

About this title

About the Author:

Kathleen Purcell Munley is professor of history at Marywood University.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Scranton Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1589662121
• ISBN 13: 9781589662124
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 100