Founding Modern-day Foster Township was first settled in 1824 by John Lines. In 1855, territory was taken from
Dennison Township to create a new municipality in Luzerne County; the new territory was incorporated as a township in 1855. It is named after
Asa L. Foster. At the time,
coal mining and
logging were the two major industries in Foster Township.
Eckley Miners’ Village Early years Before the 1850s,
Eckley was not a mining town, but a rural, forested community called Shingletown. It was located on land owned by
Tench Coxe. The inhabitants took advantage of the surrounding woodlands and made
shingles to be sold in
White Haven and
Hazleton. These goods were traded for the necessities of life, such as
whiskey,
port, and
tobacco.
Discovery of coal In 1853, four
prospectors came to Shingletown and discovered that the land contained several veins of
coal. Within the year, the Sharpe, Leisenring, and Company, later known as the Sharpe, Weiss, and Company, was formed. Judge
Charles Coxe of
Philadelphia, executor of the Tench Coxe Estate, granted the company a 20-year lease for the establishment and operation of a
colliery on the 1,500 acres (6 km2) of land. In 1854, the company began to construct a colliery. By autumn of 1854, the company had constructed a
saw mill to provide
lumber necessary for the colliery buildings, such as the breaker and
stable. Shingletown was renamed Fillmore, presumably in honor of President
Millard Fillmore who left office in 1853. The town was later renamed Eckley (in 1857) in honor of Judge Coxe's eldest son,
Eckley B. Coxe. In later years, Eckley Coxe, an engineer, became involved in the operations of the village.
European immigration The first residents of Eckley were mostly
English and
Welsh immigrants who came from the mines in
Great Britain. By the late 1850s and early 1860s, these miners were joined by groups of
Irish farmers, who had immigrated to America after the devastating
famine in their homeland. By the 1880s and 1890s, a new wave of immigrants from Eastern and Southern
Europe entered Eckley. These groups included people from
Slovakia,
Poland,
Ukraine,
Lithuania, and
Italy.
Modern times The Molly Maguires—a 1970 movie—was filmed in Eckley in 1969.
Eckley Miners' Village was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1971. ==Geography==