Lansford

History

The area where Lansford currently sits was originally the home of the "Wolf Tribe" of the Lenape people. Lansford's first school was opened in 1847 on Abbott Street. Lansford's first church, the Welsh Congregational, was built in 1850 and still stands today on West Abbott Street. The old No. 9 Mine and Museum in Lansford, a deep mine which operated from 1855 to 1972, is now open as a tourist attraction offering tours of the mine and a wealth of information on local mining history. A museum occupying the mine's former Wash Shanty building on the site displays a large collection of mining artifacts. One of the local mine bosses, John P. Jones, was murdered in Lansford, reportedly in connection with labor union strife, attributed to members of a secret society known as the Molly Maguires, many of whom were put on trial and hanged in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties during the mid- to late 1870s. Lansford was the home of the first Commercial Cable Television system in the United States. The Lansford Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , all of it land. The town shares the border of Carbon and Schuylkill County with the abutting neighboring community of Coaldale, which is de facto, a suburban bedroom neighborhood. Lansford is 1 mile north of Summit Hill (where the first anthracite deposits mined by the Lehigh Coal Company were discovered in the 1780s); 10 miles west of Lehighton, and 6 miles northeast of Tamaqua. Lansford's elevation is 1145 feet above sea level. It is also 36 miles northwest of Allentown and 9 miles south of Hazleton. It is located on the northwestern fringe of the Lehigh Valley and is at the southern end of the Coal Region and the Pocono Mountains. Lansford sits on the north slope of Pisgah Mountain above and along the south bank of the Panther Creek tributary of the Little Schuylkill River, athwart US-209 west of Jim Thorpe, Nesquehoning, and the eastern extent of the Lehigh-Schuylkill drainage divide, down slope and below historic Summit Hill and east of abutting Coaldale and Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, both farther downstream and west. Nesquehoning Mountain dominates the north bank across the Panther Creek and the rich coal mines of the valley shipped coal through the long Hauto Tunnel of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) competing for the rich trade with New York City and Philadelphia. Hugh Vrablic is the Mayor of Lansford and is assisted by a council. The town also has a fire department and a police force. Lansford is part of the Panther Valley School District and is the home of their newly remodeled football stadium and walking track.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  4,687
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,568
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  4,378
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,091
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,802
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  3,581
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,996
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,984

Largest nearby schools

• Lehighton Area Elementary Center
  Elementary · Lehighton · 998 students · 13.7:1 ratio
• Panther Valley JSHS
  High · Lansford · 771 students · 18.4:1 ratio
• Lehighton Area HS
  High · Lehighton · 660 students · 10.3:1 ratio
• L B Morris El Sch
  Elementary · Jim Thorpe · 624 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• Panther Valley El Sch
  Elementary · Nesquehoning · 622 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• Jim Thorpe Area HS
  High · Jim Thorpe · 565 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Lehighton Area MS
  Middle · Lehighton · 513 students · 10.3:1 ratio
• Panther Valley Intermediate Sch
  Middle · Lansford · 417 students · 17.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2024-05-24
  6 km E of Califon, New Jersey
• M 2.9 — 2024-04-27
  7 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-04-10
  5 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 3.7 — 2024-04-05
  7 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-04-05
  6 km ESE of Califon, New Jersey
• M 4.8 — 2024-04-05
  2024 Tewksbury, New Jersey Earthquake