History and Local Interest

Welcome to the Tamaqua Area Public Library, the central facility for the library system that serves Tamaqua, PA.  Our collection contains 43, 082 volumes and circulates 30, 386 items per year.  We serve a population of 17, 042 residents. 

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Tamaqua was founded in 1799 by German immigrant Burkhardt Moser. Originally to be named Tuscarora, the name Tamaqua was chosen after it was realized that there already was a community named Tuscarora about four miles to the west. Roughly half of Moser's original log cabin is still intact and visible behind a house on the east side of Broad Street. The discovery of anthracite coal in the region in the early 1800s led to the town's rise as a coal producing community. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1832[1]. During the 1860s and 1870s, Tamaqua was the geographic center hub for the Molly Maguires. One murder commonly attributed to the Mollies was that of town policeman Benjamin Yost, who was shot to death early one morning while extinguishing a gas lamp at the corner of West Broad and Lehigh Streets[2].

In 1874 the town's train station was constructed. Arguably Tamaqua's most famous landmark, it has remained standing despite standing idle from the mid 80s through the late 90s after passenger railroad service to the town was discontinued. Initially planned to be demolished in the late 1980s, the non-profit group Save Our Station (S.O.S.) eventually managed to raise enough money to have it refurbished at a cost of $1.5 million. The station reopened in August 2004, now home to a full-service restaurant and gift shop. Rail excursions leave from there during the Tamaqua Historical Society's annual Heritage Festival on the second Sunday in October.

It was Tamaqua resident Chris Fulmer who, while playing for the minor league Baltimore Orioles in 1888, invented baseball's catcher's mitt.

Tamaqua remained a thriving community throughout the heyday of coal production in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It began declining, along with many other anthracite communities, in the 1950s as coal mines began tapering off. Hurricane Diane caused tremendous damage to Tamaqua's railroad yards to the extent that they never fully recovered. In 1971 the borough annexed neighboring Rahn Township and its Owl Creek section, home to the world's first fish hatchery.

In the 1940s J.E. Morgan invented Thermal Underwear in Tamaqua. Since his death in 2000, the Morgan Trust has donated money to various worthwhile causes in Tamaqua. The Morgan Trust also donates to hospitals because his wife had cancer and he always hoped a cure would be found.

In the fiction of John O'Hara, a product of nearby Pottsville, Tamaqua appears as "Taqua."

For more information about Tamaqua and its surrounding communities, please click HERE.

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Local Interest Links:

Tamaqua Railroad  Station:  http://www.tamaquastation.com/default.aspx?pageid=179

Tamaqua.NET: http://www.tamaqua.net/

Capt'n Clint's Place (Great Photos!): http://home.epix.net/~captclint/local_scenes13.html

Schuylkill.COM Community: http://www.schuylkill.com/Directory/EasternCorridor/tamaqua.html

Tamaqua Area High School: http://www.tamaqua.k12.pa.us/tamaquaahs/site/default.asp

Tamaqua Area School District: http://www.tamaqua.k12.pa.us/tamaquaasd/site/default.asp

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