Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania: History
=== 18th century ===
The lands that constitute present-day Schuylkill County were acquired by William Penn's proprietors in a treaty executed August 22, 1749, with representatives of the Six Nations and the Delaware, Shamokin, and Shawnee tribes, who received 500 pounds in "lawful money of Pennsylvania". The acquired territory described included all of Schuylkill County except the northern part of Union Township, which was included in the purchase of 1768.
In 1744, an early mill was built in the county by John Finscher, but it later burned down.
In 1754, present-day Schuylkill, Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon, and Lehigh counties were settled by German immigrants. The earliest settlers in southeastern Schuylkill County, which was then part of Northampton County, were primarily Moravian Palatines from the Saxony region of Germany.
In 1755, the first log church was built in the county. Native American massacres were commonplace in Schuylkill County between 1755 and 1765. Warrant for tracts of land in the vicinity of McKeansburg were established as early as 1750.
In 1790, anthracite, a highly efficient form of coal then known as stone coal, was discovered near present-day Pottsville by Necho Allen.
In 1795, a blacksmith based in Schuylkill County known as Whetstone resolved the question of how to use anthracite successfully for blacksmithing purposes. In 1806, additional sources of coal were found as the tailrace was cut on the Schuylkill River. Daniel Berlin, another blacksmith, used it successfully, and blacksmiths in the county and surrounding Coal Region ultimately adopted its use, which represented a core industry, fuel source, and employment sector in the county throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Schuylkill County was created via an Act of Assembly on March 1, 1811, from portions of Berks and Northampton counties. More land was added to the county in 1818, from Columbia and Luzerne counties. At the time of its creation, the county had a population of about 6,000.
Orwigsburg was the first organized community in Schuylkill County. During the county's early years, there was an attempt to make McKeansburg the county seat; Orwigsburg was also a contender. Orwigsburg was selected as the county seat because it was deemed to be better suited for industries. Beginning in 1831, support for moving the county seat to Pottsville began gaining traction. In 1846, the state legislature passed an Act that was approved by Governor Francis R. Shunk on March 13, submitting the question to the voters. The change was desired principally because the railroad and canal connections with Orwigsburg were problematic while Pottsville had facilities and was within easy access from all parts of the county.
In 1812, George Shoemaker and Necho Allen discovered stone coal at Centerville in Schuylkill County, and personally delivered some of it to Philadelphia. He gave away most of the coal, intending to encourage individuals to find ways to use it. Most of the experiments failed, and Shoemaker was nearly run out of town and called an imposter but Mellon and Bishop of Delaware County successfully used it in their rolling mill. …