Tamaqua

History

Tamaqua was settled in 1799 by Burkhardt Moser, his son Jacob (born 1790), and John Kershner, who built shelters and a sawmill at the confluence of the Little Schuylkill River and Panther Creek, which is downtown Tamaqua today. According to property records, Moser had a partner named Houser, and together they owned which Moser homesteaded. Moser built a log house at the base of Dutch Hill in 1801 for Mrs. Catherine Moser, who was the first adult to die and receive burial there on February 15, 1822 followed later in April that year by John Kershner. The borough was originally to be named Tuscarora, but the name Tamaqua was chosen after it was realized that there already was a community named Tuscarora about four miles (6 km) to the west. The editor of The History of Schuylkill County wrote in 1881: The editor writes the following about Tamaqua's founding: Roughly half of Moser's original log cabin is still intact and visible behind a house on the north side of East Broad Street. The discovery of anthracite coal in the region in the early 19th century led to Tamaqua's rise as a coal-producing community. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1832. The first coal breaker, called "The Greenwood" was built as noted in the quotation, at the site of the first mine at the lower end of the Panther Creek Valley. However, details about construction and development in Rahn Township and Coaldale on the county-line with sister-town Lansford from the same source history illustrate it was definitely not the first breaker in the valley. Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, with 10,000 acres located between Mauch Chunk in present-day Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua, was known to have mine tailings in their lands in Coaldale. The Greenwood breaker in 1874, as noted in the above quote,…

Geography

Tamaqua is located in a valley basin at (40.798600, −75.966498) in Pennsylvania's southern Coal Region section of the Appalachian Mountains in the Schuylkill River drainage basin. Tamaqua's valley is located at the western end of the Pocono Mountains on the edge of the neighboring Lehigh River watershed. Tamaqua's terrain is typical of many mid-size Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians with low lands and flat towns with business, rail transport, and industries in its lower valley locations and residential dwellings on the higher elevated slopes above. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , of which is land and (1.31%) is water. Three streams pass through Tamaqua: The Little Schuylkill River runs through Tamaqua from the north through the gap separating the folds of Sharp Mountain on the west and Nesquehoning Mountain. Panther Creek flows southwest from Lansford, five miles away, and joins the Little Schuylkill River in Tamaqua. Wabash Creek joins the Little Schuylkill from the west. In the Tamaqua area, coal mining was a vital economic activity throughout the 20th century, but more recent diminished use of coal as a power plant fuel and the demise of steam powered traction, coal has since experienced a decline. Tamaqua also gained recognition as a railroad center. In 1885, the Edison Illuminating Company in Tamaqua furnished the town with the nation's second incandescent municipal lighting system, a feat accomplished by the innovation of Thomas Edison. The nearest city to Tamaqua is Hazleton, which is 12.5 miles north. Tamaqua is east of Pottsville, southwest of Jim Thorpe, approximately south of Scranton, approximately northwest of Philadelphia, and approximately southwest of New York City. Tamaqua's average elevation is above sea…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,183
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  5,937
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  5,927
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,612
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,124
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  4,777
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,034
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,891

Largest nearby schools

• McAdoo-Kelayres El/MS
  Elementary · McAdoo · 839 students · 19.5:1 ratio
• Tamaqua El Sch
  Elementary · Tamaqua · 695 students · 18.8:1 ratio
• Tamaqua Area SHS
  High · Tamaqua · 691 students · 16.1:1 ratio
• Tamaqua Area MS
  Middle · Tamaqua · 433 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• West Penn Twp El Sch
  Elementary · New Ringgold · 280 students · 16.5:1 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 — 2024-04-05
  6 km ESE of Califon, New Jersey
• M 4.8 — 2024-04-05
  2024 Tewksbury, New Jersey Earthquake
• M 2.64 — 2015-01-25
  4 km ESE of Downingtown, Pennsylvania
• M 3.37 — 2008-12-27
  2 km NNE of Landisville, Pennsylvania