By Cindy Inkrote
SHAMOKIN — Route 61 runs from the Susquehanna River at Sunbury to the city of Reading, a distance of about 63 miles. It winds through the once booming anthracite coal country and the towns that developed and thrived during this era, Shamokin, Mount Carmel, Ashland, Frackville, St. Clair and Pottsville. The highway then runs not far from the Schuylkill River as it heads south and ends in Reading.
Each town has unique features — parks, monuments, business districts, and homes — which create its identity. Route 61 runs along Sunbury Street in Shamokin intersecting with Orange, Liberty, Washington, Rock and Shamokin streets and in this neighborhood many spacious and solidly built homes tell the tale of old king coal.
Elements of elegance
It is difficult when driving to appreciate fully the beautiful features of these large houses but a walk along this street allows a closer examination of the elegant elements of these outstanding properties built years ago. Beveled glass, heavy doors, a copper dome, curved windows, carvings, ornate trim and other embellishments indicate that the owners put serious thought and money into the design and construction of these homes.
It is truly a shame that all the traffic has caused this neighborhood to lose its original feel. It also cries out for designation as a historic district. This is one of the city’s older neighborhoods and many prominent pioneer families called it home including the Doutys, Fagleys, Fultons, Martzes, McConnells, McWilliamses, and the Robertsons. All of these families were involved in coal businesses, were merchants, or owned businesses that thrived as the demand for coal increased and Shamokin’s population grew.
Coal tycoon
Andrew Robertson, a Pottsville native, sold his interests in the Eagle Hill Colliery in Schuylkill County to the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company and moved to Shamokin in the early 1880s and established a milling operation with George Parmley. Robertson later operated the Excelsior and Carbon collieries in Northumberland County and owned sizable coal lands in West Virginia and was involved in the Turkey Gap Coke and Coal Company there. He was one of the original stockholders and a director of the Edison Electrical Illuminating Co. in Shamokin. Robertson also served on the board of the Shamokin Gas Co. and was a bank director in Pottsville and Shamokin.
He acquired property on Sunbury Street near the corner of Liberty Street in the mid 1880s. Around the turn of the century, he constructed a large brownstone house on the lot with outstanding features including a large copper dome, which is not visible when driving by. Robertson and his wife, the former Hannah Heffner, of Pottsville, raised their family and a nephew in the house, were active civically and socially in Shamokin and lived there until their dying days.
They are buried in the family plot in the Shamokin Cemetery, which overlooks the city.
Sadly, Shamokin and all the mining towns along Route 61 lag behind. Once-thriving neighborhoods and business districts struggle to maintain. Now only the architecture remains, which indicates the times of prosperity generated by those black diamonds.
