Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society

06/01/2026

Lots of nice press on our upcoming talk on Father Walter Ciszek... see you all at 6:30 at our Greater Shen. Area Historical Society Museum, Tuesday, June 2.

05/31/2026

Join the Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society on June 2nd as they explore the incredible journey of the Shenandoah native who spent decades imprisoned for his faith and went on to inspire others through his writings and ministry.

Read more about the upcoming program about Father Walter Ciszek👇
https://www.skooknews.com/2026/05/greater-shenandoah-historical-society.html

05/16/2026

05/14/2026

This 1938 photograph from the Library of Congress shows the Charles Yanonis Cafe on West Coal Street in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.

The business was built by a Lithuanian immigrant who came to Schuylkill County around the turn of the century, went to work in the coal mines, and eventually opened a cafe out of his own home in 1922 that he ran for more than four decades.

“Ladies Entrance” reads the sign on the door — a window into a vanished world on a Coal Region street.

Explore more history of Shenandoah and Schuylkill County in the comments below.

05/13/2026

Five young breaker boys out on strike at Shenandoah, Pennsylvania | 1900

This photograph of five striking breaker boys was taken near Shenandoah, PA in September 1900. It appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The reporter noted that the five were sharing a small pipe and smoking as they watched a unit of Pennsylvania National Guard marching through the streets of their working class neighborhood in Shenandoah.

05/10/2026

Photograph of UMWA president John Mitchell arriving at Shenandoah, PA | 1902

This photograph from the Library of Congress shows a group of carriages, including one carrying union leader John Mitchell, into Shenandoah during the Coal Strike of 1902.

05/06/2026

Members of Company E, 8th Pennsylvania National Guard at Shenandoah, PA | 1900

This photograph shows soldiers from the 8th Pennsylvania National Guard at Shenandoah, Pennsylvania during the Coal Strike of 1900.

Interestingly, Company E of the 8th Regiment came from the nearby mining town of Mahanoy City. They were called up to assist the National Guard in keeping peace in the restive mining communities of Schuylkill County and none were more restless than the crowded, melting pot of Shenandoah.

(Photograph: Our State Army and Navy - Pennsylvania National Guard)

11/28/2025

"Miners' Housing - Catherine Street, looking south, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania (1916-17)"

This photograph from the UMWA collection at Pennsylvania State University shows a building housing miners and their families on a cold winter day sometime in 1916 or 1917.

The photographer captured a group of children who look like they may be heading out to play in the snow, including with a sled being pulled along.

(United Mine Workers of America, President's Office records, 1900-1981, Historical Collections and Labor Archives, Special Collections Library, University Libraries, Pennsylvania State University.)

11/27/2025

A minister in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania addressed a crowd on Thanksgiving 1902 and decried the social problems ailing the United States in the Gilded Age.

"Millions of people in this land of ours are suffering from social evils, for which they are not responsible, and which it is the duty of both church and government to assist in correcting," he told his listeners.

"Their failure to perform this duty is certain to alienate the masses from the one, and cause grave distrust and disloyalty toward the other..."

Listen to more of his remarks and the chaotic year of 1902 in the Coal Region ⬇️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-3BTfFw85k