Patchtown: Life in Eckley Miners' Village 1860 - 1920

Patchtown is a collection of historical fiction vignettes, based on real people who lived and worked in the anthracite coal company-owned town of Eckley, Pennsylvania. With the use of the United States census records from 1860-1920, each decade from the Eckley census records will come to life through the narratives of the men, women, and children who lived and worked at the Council Ridge Colliery in Eckley, Pennsylvania. Through combining historical research and artistic license, Patchtown's personas involve themselves in the living and working conditions, and social events that defined the anthracite coal fields of Northeastern Pennsylvania. In each decade's chapter, Patchtown's personas will be directly or indirectly affected by local and national events such as the 1877 Molly Maguire trials, the Lattimer Massacre, the Strike of 1902, and the other industrial and social events specific to Northeastern Pennsylvania and anthracite patchtowns.