Emma Sidoriak

CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY

GEOGRAPHY

Schuylkill County is located in northeastern Pennsylvania in what is known as the anthracite coal region (Ramsey, 2006). (See Figures 2.1 and 2.2.) The county was founded in 1811 and named after the Schuylkill River, which begins in the county and flows through the cities of Reading and Philadelphia and into the Delaware River. The Appalachian Mountains run through this rural county, making for an abundance of mountains, hills, valleys and streams (Wilder, 1998).

For centuries, sulphuric acid in the atmosphere and in the streams have been eroding the land, creating sand and gravel terrain and leading to countless, damaging floods. Despite the erosion, Schuylkill County is also home to long stretches of green foliage, large trees and many fertile farms (Wilder, 1998). Agriculture makes up for 18% of the land usage in the county, and main products include Christmas trees, vegetables, melons, potatoes, turkeys, poultry and hogs (About Schuylkill, 2010).

Pottsville, considered a micropolitan area by the United States Census Bureau, is the county seat and largest city in Schuylkill County. The counties that border are Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne and Northumberland. Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C. are the closest metropolitan areas to Schuylkill County and are each approximately 2 to 2.5 hours away by car commute (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).

HISTORY OF THE COAL-CRACKERS

Within the first decades of its foundation from the early to mid-1800s, Schuylkill County prospered because of its abundance of anthracite coal, a primary fuel source for the United States at this time. Anthracite coal was a better alternative than other fuel sources. Compared to the softer, bituminous coal, anthracite was preferred because of its intense heat and its cleaner burn. When burned, anthracite coal produces less smoke than bituminous coal (Grubb, 2013). 

The booming coal industry provided jobs for many of the men and even children in Schuylkill County, especially from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, as shown in Figure 2.3. While the wages were low and the working conditions were poor and dangerous, “coal-crackers,” as the miners were called, worked daily to provide support for their families (McGuigan & Migliore, 2008).

The coal industry led to developments in other aspects of the economy. For instance, transportation became important so that the coal could be shipped down from the mountains and out to consumers around the nation. Schuylkill County is, therefore, connected to the first railroads and canals established in the United States (Grubb, 2013; Luther, 1998).

The coal industry boomed and was the main driver of the economy of Schuylkill County throughout the 19th and into the early 20th century as it was an important fuel source nationwide. The coal industry of Schuylkill County peaked in 1917 with close to 100 million tons of coal mined in just that year. Within a little more than a decade, the amount of coal mined fell to 40 million tons during the Great Depression. The coal industry existed in northeastern Pennsylvania until World War II, but by the end of the war, it had dissipated (McGuigan & Migliore, 2008).

CURRENT DEMOGRAPHICS

Given Schuylkill County’s unique geography and history, the people of the region tend to veer from the norm when put up against the broader population. To gain a better understanding of the county’s deviances, the following sections compare the people of Schuylkill County to Pennsylvania and the United States as a whole. Topics of discussion that help to outline Schuylkill County’s demographics include population growth, types of family households, ages of women who give birth, education levels, ancestry and current immigration patterns.

An Aging Population

Table 2.1 illustrates that Schuylkill County’s population has become older than Pennsylvania’s and the rest of the United States’. While the broader populations of Pennsylvania and the United States continue to grow at a positive rate, Schuylkill County’s population peaked in the 1930s and has been steadily decreasing ever since—with the exception of the 1980s, in which growth was very minimal at +0.3% (Forstall, 1995; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012a; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012d). As was mentioned earlier, the coal industry in Schuylkill County peaked around 1917 and never returned after the Great Depression of the 1930s. The pattern of success in this major industry correlates to the changes in the county’s population; it seems as though Schuylkill County’s population never bounced back either.

Table 2.2, which shows the number of childbearing women age, may also hint at the aging population in Schuylkill County. The percentage of women who had children within the past year in the younger age categories, 15-19 and 20-34, is higher in Pennsylvania and the United States than in Schuylkill County. In consequence, the percentage of women who had children within the past year in the oldest age category of 35-50 is higher in Schuylkill County than both Pennsylvania and the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012e; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012f).

Schuylkill County has a higher representation of older women bearing children, which may be attributed to the decreasing amount of young people who choose to stay and raise a family in the county (Marchiano, 2013).

Family Households

The types of households that exist in Schuylkill County, shown in Table 2.3, are similar to that of Pennsylvania where married-couple families make up for almost half of all types of family households. One main difference is that households with one or more people 65 years and over are more common in Schuylkill County than in the rest of Pennsylvania (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012e; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012f). This stresses the idea mentioned above about the aging population of Schuylkill County. More households with older citizens living in them supports that the county’s population is growing older at a quicker rate compared to the average in all of Pennsylvania and the United States.

Education Levels

Table 2.4 shows that educational levels in Schuylkill County are below the average of Pennsylvania. The percentage of students that only achieve a high school degree in Schuylkill County is 49.2% and less in Pennsylvania at 36.8% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012e; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012f), demonstrating that other citizens outside of Schuylkill County tend to go on to higher education. Almost 28% of Pennsylvanians achieve a bachelor’s degree or higher, whereas only 13.3% of citizens in Schuylkill County do the same (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012e; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012f), further emphasizing the lack of higher education achievements in Schuylkill County. It is possible that Schuylkill County’s historical focus on labor-intensive industries, such as coal mining and garment manufacturing, have led to slower development of higher skilled industries.

Ancestry

Ancestry plays a large role in Schuylkill County’s culture and is often expressed at block parties, family reunions, restaurants and parades. While the ancestries of Schuylkill County are similar to that of Pennsylvania and the United States, they are more concentrated. As depicted in Table 2.5, the top 5 ancestries in Schuylkill County account for 83.1% of the population, whereas the top 5 ancestries in Pennsylvania and the United States only account for 69.6% and 46.8% of the populations, respectively (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012e; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012f). A higher concentration of ancestries in Schuylkill County means that the citizens share more of the same ancestors; this makes sense because families that live in Schuylkill County usually have a long history of being there. It is also a common fact that immigrants of the same country are attracted to communities of other immigrants with the same background and cultural values, making life more convenient and comfortable.

Immigration

The following tables, 2.6 and 2.7, illustrate that Schuylkill County does not have as high of an immigrant population as the rest of Pennsylvania or the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012e; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012f). This can be attributed to the fact that Schuylkill County is a smaller region than Pennsylvania or the United States, so the chance of an immigrant moving into the county is slimmer. Schuylkill County may also not be attractive to immigrants today because of its declining economy.

Current Economy

The following data continues to compare Schuylkill County to Pennsylvania and to the United States focusing on current economic development. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the level of development in Schuylkill County is below the state and national averages. According to today’s statistics, no industry ever succeeded in reproducing the prosperity in the economy like the coal and garment industries had done in the past.

General statistics about the median household income and poverty rate provide evidence that Schuylkill County’s economy is underdeveloped. The median household income in Schuylkill County only accounts for about 88% of the median household incomes in Pennsylvania and the United States. According to the most recent United States Census Bureau records, 15.2% of people in Schuylkill County live in poverty—a rate higher than the poverty rate in Pennsylvania and slightly lower than the poverty rate in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012b).

Work Life

The labor force of Schuylkill County consists of 70,403 people, of who 6.1% are unemployed (see Table 2.10)—a percentage higher than both Pennsylvania and the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012b). The higher unemployment rate further implies that the current economy in Schuylkill County rates worse than the national average.

As shown in Table 2.11, the top 3 industries of Schuylkill County are similar to the top 5 industries of the state and the nation. The 4th and 5th top industries of Schuylkill County, ‘construction’ and ‘transportation and warehousing, and utilities’ (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012b), are different, however, and representative of more labor-intensive work. The industries included in Pennsylvania’s and the United States’ economies that are not a part of Schuylkill County’s top 5 involve less physical labor and require higher-level education.

It is peculiar that while construction remains one of Schuylkill County’s top industries, the infrastructure of the county is not quite up-to-date; there still exists many old buildings and homes. A reason for this may be that a majority of the construction work in the area is done on state roads and bridges. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, current construction projects include replacing and repairing several bridges and improving the safety of state and interstate highways through widening roads, adding new traffic signals and guide rails, replacing concrete curbs and barriers and improving drainage systems (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 2014).

The state’s and the nation’s top 5 ranked industries include the category of ‘arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services’ while Schuylkill County’s does not (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012b). Overall, the top industries of Schuylkill County show that the region’s population is involved in more labor-intensive work, like manufacturing and construction, than the rest of the state or the nation, which could be a consequence of the county’s history of coal-mining and garment manufacturing as well as a lower level of education in the area.

Table 2.12 shows that typical to the rest of the country, the majority of people in Schuylkill County commute by car, truck or van. A smaller portion of citizens in the county use public transportation than in the rest of the state or the nation (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012b), most likely because they live in a rural area where public transportation is not as available. In Schuylkill County, compared to both Pennsylvania and the United States, more people walk to work, and fewer people work at home (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012b). 

Again, more people may walk to work because their towns are smaller and in rural areas where public transportation is not as available as in a city. Because the economy is generally at a lower economic level than Pennsylvania or the United States, more people may also walk because they do not own as many vehicles. Working at home tends to be a luxury for those with higher skilled jobs today. As stated before, more people in Schuylkill County work in lower skilled, labor-intensive jobs, which may be why fewer of them are able to work at home.

Infrastructure

The years buildings were established, depicted in Table 2.13, are also telling of Schuylkill County’s current economy because they show the progress and development that the community has made over the years. The majority of buildings in the United States were constructed between 1960 and 1980; in Pennsylvania, 1960 or earlier; and in Schuylkill County, mainly 1939 or earlier (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012c). Schuylkill County’s buildings are far older than the rest of the state’s or the nation’s, which shows how deeply rooted the community is with its past. While there are positive elements of pride and tradition that go along with the large quantity of old establishments that exist in Schuylkill County, there also may be setbacks, such as a lack of technology, efficiency, safety or environmental responsibility.