Lansford, PA

Lansford’s Rich History

The roots of Lansford trace back to the late eighteenth century, when anthracite coal was first discovered on Pisgah Mountain in Panther Valley. Due to its high carbon content, anthracite coal was an effective fuel for heating homes and powering factories in the 1800s, and Lansford and the surrounding Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania proved to have the largest and richest deposits of anthracite coal in the world.

The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, was formed in 1818 to mine the local hills, and immigrants from all over the world moved to the area to fill the open jobs. Several of the mining villages were officially incorporated into the borough of Lansford in 1876, with the town taking its name from one of the company's mining engineers, Asa Lansford Foster.

At the No. 9 Coal Mine & Museum in Lansford, you can step back in time and step deep into one of these mines yourself to find out what life would have been like for the miners of the past. From historic churches including the restored Old Welsh Church to the story of the chilling murder of Superintendent John P. Jones in 1875, allegedly done by the Molly Maguires, there's a lot of history to discover in Lansford!