History
Newspapers & Media History
For two centuries Schuylkill County sustained a dense and varied local press. Its county-seat paper, the Miners' Journal (Pottsville, 1825), and well over a hundred other English-language town papers were joined by a remarkably rich immigrant press in German, Lithuanian, Carpatho-Rusyn, Polish, Welsh, and Irish. One of those titles, Ameryka (Shenandoah, 1886), was the first Ruthenian-American newspaper — founded by the Greek Catholic priest Ivan Volansky, per the Archeparchy of Philadelphia's account of his work.
This is a history of those outlets — the major lineages, the town papers, the immigrant and labor press, and the historic broadcast stations. It covers historic media; the county's currently operating newspapers, radio, and digital outlets are listed in the Directory's News & media section. Every entry is anchored where possible to its Library of Congress catalog record (LCCN) or FCC facility ID, and the corpus's uncertainty flags are kept in place rather than smoothed over.
The major lineages
A handful of mastheads, through repeated mergers, carry the county's newspaper history forward from the 1820s to the present day.
- Amerikansky Russky Viestnik (American Rusyn Messenger) (Mahanoy City, 1892–1952)
- Founded in Mahanoy City; later moved to Scranton, then Homestead, PA.
- Ashland Daily News (Ashland, 1910s–1966)
- Absorbed into the Shenandoah Evening Herald in 1966.
- Evening Herald (Shenandoah, 1870–1969)
- Absorbed the Ashland Daily News (1966) and the Mahanoy City Record American; folded into the Pottsville Republican lineage in 1995.
- Miners' Journal (Pottsville, 1825–1909)
- Absorbed into the Pottsville Journal (1909–1953), which ceased in 1953.
- Pottsville Emporium (Pottsville, 1838–1862)
- One Democratic paper under successive titles (Emporium → Mining Register → Mining Record), 1838–1862.
- Pottsville Journal (Pottsville, 1909–1953)
- Absorbed the Miners' Journal lineage in 1909; ceased September 19, 1953.
- Pottsville Republican (Pottsville, 1884–present (lineage))
- 1995 merged with the Shenandoah Evening Herald → Republican & Herald (2004) → Republican-Herald (2009–present), the county's surviving daily; the modern operating paper is profiled in the Directory, not here. Current outlet →
- Record American (Mahanoy City, 1865–1969)
- The final consolidation of Mahanoy City's English papers; bought by the Shenandoah Evening Herald and closed in late 1969.
- Tamaqua Courier (Tamaqua, 1870s–1971)
- Circulation acquired by Pencor Services in 1971 and merged into the Times News (Lehighton).
- The Call (Schuylkill Haven, 1891–1951; 1969–2010)
- Succeeded in 2010 by the South Schuylkill News (Directory).
- Valley Citizen (Valley View, 1929–1975)
- Merged with the Herndon News to form the Citizen-Standard (1975–present, Directory).
- West Schuylkill Press (Tremont, 1877–1969)
- Became the Press-Herald (Pine Grove, 1969), whose lineage continues today in the South Schuylkill News (Directory).
Historical newspapers by town
The English-language town papers, 1811–c.1950 (the immigrant and labor press follows below).
| Town | Paper | Years | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland | Ashland Advocate A long-running Ashland weekly; the borough also had the Miners' Gazetteer (1857–1863) and the Ashland Record (1872–1909). | 1867–1920 | |
| Ashland | Ashland Daily News Ashland's 20th-century daily, ending when its title merged into the Shenandoah Evening Herald. | 1910s–1966 | LCCN sn87078015 |
| Coaldale | Coaldale Observer The town weekly of Coaldale, on the Schuylkill–Carbon border, published by the Gildea Brothers (editor James H. Gildea). | 1910–1958 | LCCN sn87078406 |
| Frackville | Frackville Citizen Founded 1958 by the Examiner Print & Publishing Co.; the borough's earlier paper was the Frackville Star (1892–1908). ⚑ End date undocumented online — not digitized; needs State Library of PA microfilm or the county historical society. | 1958–18?? | LCCN sn89077117 |
| Girardville | Girardville Gazette Founded March 17, 1878 by T. F. Hoffman as a weekly six-column folio; John A. Gilger took over in August 1880. The borough's earlier paper, the Girardville Herald (1873), ran 25 numbers. (Munsell, History of Schuylkill County, 1881.) | 1878–18?? | |
| Mahanoy City | Record American The ~50-year English daily that ended a publishing run begun with the Mahanoy Gazette in 1865. | 1865–1969 | LCCN sn89077648 |
| Minersville | Minersville Free Press Minersville's long-running weekly; the borough's earlier paper was the Minersville Bulletin (1850–1856). | 1884–1965 | LCCN sn89077749 |
| Pottsville | Evening Chronicle A long-running Pottsville daily of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. | 1875–1923 | |
| Pottsville | Log Cabin (political) A short-lived Whig campaign paper of the 1840 'Log Cabin' Harrison presidential campaign. | 1840 | |
| Pottsville | Miners' Journal Founded 1825 in the county seat and long owned and edited by Benjamin Bannan; Whig, then Republican, pro-coal-industry and anti-Molly-Maguire in its politics. See: Benjamin Bannan | 1825–1909 | LCCN sn86081721 |
| Pottsville | Pottsville Emporium (political) The Democratic counterweight to the Whig/Republican Miners' Journal; the directory dates of its many title changes are partly garbled in the source catalog. | 1838–1862 | |
| Pottsville | Pottsville Journal The 20th-century successor that carried the Miners' Journal name forward until it closed in 1953. | 1909–1953 | LCCN sn86081729 |
| Pottsville | Pottsville Republican (political) Republican in politics. The modern operating paper is profiled in the Directory news-media section (directoryRef → republican-herald). | 1884–present (lineage) | LCCN sn85055289 Wikidata |
| Pottsville | Pottsville Standard (political) A long-running Democratic paper of the county seat. | 1857–1907 | LCCN sn84026250 |
| Schuylkill Haven | The Call Schuylkill Haven's town weekly across two runs; its lineage continues in the modern South Schuylkill News. | 1891–1951; 1969–2010 | LCCN sn89077477 |
| Shenandoah | Evening Herald Shenandoah's English-language daily — the major English masthead of a town better known for its Slavic and Lithuanian press. | 1870–1969 | LCCN sn87078000 |
| Tamaqua | Tamaqua Courier Tamaqua's principal daily; its end in 1971 folded the town's coverage into the regional Times News. | 1870s–1971 | LCCN sn86081938 |
| Tower City | West Schuylkill Herald Tower City's weekly, published for decades by the Knecht family (16,731 digitized pages run to 1977). Distinct from the Tremont West Schuylkill Press. ⚑ Exact final-issue date undocumented online — needs State Library of PA microfilm or the county historical society. | 1898–c.1977 | LCCN sn89077652 |
| Tremont | West Schuylkill Press The western-county weekly of Tremont and Pine Grove. Not to be confused with the Tower City West Schuylkill Herald. | 1877–1969 | LCCN sn89077075 |
| Valley View | Valley Citizen The far-western county's weekly, serving the Hegins/Hubley Valley; its lineage continues in the modern Citizen-Standard. | 1929–1975 |
The immigrant, labor & political press
The anthracite coal towns produced a remarkably rich immigrant-language press. These titles connect directly to the county's cultural communities.
Amerikansky Russky Viestnik (American Rusyn Messenger) — Mahanoy City, 1892–1952 · Carpatho-Rusyn · Immigrant
Founded in Mahanoy City on March 17, 1892, the official organ of the Greek Catholic Union of Rusyn Brotherhoods, with founding editor Paul (Pavel) Zatkovich; printed in Cyrillic and Roman editions.
See: Carpatho-Rusyns & Ukrainians. Wikidata. · Wikipedia — Amerikansky Russky Viestnik
Ameryka (America) — Shenandoah, 1886–1890 · Ruthenian/Ukrainian · Immigrant
Founded August 15, 1886 by Father Ivan Volansky at his St. Michael the Archangel parish printing house — described by the Archeparchy of Philadelphia as the first Ruthenian newspaper in America. (Not the later 1912 Philadelphia Ameryka.)
See: Ivan Volansky, Carpatho-Rusyns & Ukrainians. · Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia — Father Ivan Voliansky (states he founded and edited the first Ruthenian newspaper, Ameryka, first issue Aug 15, 1886) · Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine — Voliansky, Ivan
Anthracite Monitor — Tamaqua, 1871–1875 · English · Labor
An 1870s labor paper of Tamaqua.
Christian Advocate — County-wide, 18?? · English · Religious
A countywide religious paper.
⚑ Documented via USGenWeb extracts; run-years not established.
Demokratische Freiheits-Presse — Pottsville, 1837–1856 · German · Immigrant
A German-language Democratic paper of Pottsville — part of the self-sustaining German civic press the coal-era Germans supported across four decades.
See: Germans (coal era).
Die Stimme des Volks — Orwigsburg, c.1832–1838+ · German · Immigrant
An early German-language paper, published from the original county seat at Orwigsburg before the seat moved to Pottsville in 1851.
See: Germans (coal era).
Dirva (The Field) — Shenandoah, c.1904 · Lithuanian · Immigrant
A Shenandoah Lithuanian publishing house whose press printed Vincas Pietaris's novel Algimantas in 1904, the year the homeland's Lithuanian-press ban ended.
See: Lithuanians.
Emerald Vindicator — Pottsville, 1874–1889 · English · Immigrant
The Irish-Catholic community paper of Pottsville — the English-language voice of the county's Catholic Irish in the Molly Maguire era.
See: Irish.
Garsas (The Echo) — Shenandoah, by 1892 · Lithuanian · Immigrant
An early Lithuanian-American periodical of Shenandoah.
See: Lithuanians.
Jefferson Demokrat von Schuylkill County — Pottsville, 1855–1919 · German · Immigrant
A long-running German-language Democratic weekly that lasted into World War I — hard evidence of a durable German-reading public.
See: Germans (coal era).
Lietuviškasis Balsas (The Lithuanian Voice) — Shenandoah, 1885–1889 · Lithuanian · Immigrant
Published by Jonas Šliūpas in New York City and Shenandoah — an early Lithuanian-American newspaper, from the national-awakening figure who organized in the coal town.
See: Jonas Šliūpas, Lithuanians. · Wikipedia — Lietuviškasis balsas
Saulė (The Sun) — Mahanoy City, 1888–1959 · Lithuanian · Immigrant
Founded July 27, 1888 by Domininkas Boczkauskas and run by his family for 71 years — at its peak the highest-circulation Lithuanian-language newspaper of its time, printed in a coal town free of the czarist ban on the Lithuanian press. Wikidata Q12672503 linked 2026-07-01 (lt-labeled 'Saulė (laikraštis)'; ltwiki confirms 1888–1959, Mahanoy City; bare item — enrich upstream, never create a duplicate).
See: Domininkas Boczkauskas, Lithuanians. Wikidata. · Mahanoy Area Historical Society — 'The Saulė Newspaper 1888–1959' · Draugas News — 'The Saulė Newspaper 1888–1959: A Giant of the Lithuanian Press'
The Mahanoy Press — Mahanoy City, 1922–1926 · English · Labor
A daily afternoon paper that was the official organ of the United Mine Workers of America, District 9 — the institutional labor press of the anthracite union, published by Press Publishing Co.
Tygodnik Górniczy (The Mining Weekly) — Shenandoah, by 1919 · Polish · Immigrant
A Polish-language weekly of Shenandoah, listed as active in N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual for 1919. (The regional Górnik Pennsylwański was published in Wilkes-Barre, not the county.)
⚑ Founder and exact run-years unconfirmed — needs the full Ayer 1919 entry.
See: Poles.
Workingman — Pottsville, 1873–1876 · English · Labor
An 1870s labor paper of the county seat, contemporaneous with the Workingmen's Benevolent Association.
Y Bardd (The Bard) — Minersville, 18?? · Welsh · Immigrant
A brief-run Welsh literary periodical of Minersville.
⚑ Thin detail — dates and run unconfirmed.
See: Welsh.
Y Seren Orllewinol (The Western Star) — Pottsville, c.1844–1867 · Welsh · Immigrant
A Welsh Baptist monthly edited and published by Rev. Richard Edwards; sold and moved to Scranton around 1868. Evidence that Welsh-language papers were genuinely published in-county, not only in Utica and Scranton.
See: Welsh. · GENUKI — Welsh newspapers (National Library of Wales lists)
Y Traethodydd yn America (The Essayist in America) — Minersville, 1858 · Welsh · Immigrant
A Welsh literary periodical, first number September 1858, published at Minersville (Vol. 1) and Pottsville (Vol. 2, at the Miners' Journal office); only five issues appeared. Editors Rev. W. T. Phillips and Rev. John P. Harries ('Ieuan Ddu').
See: Welsh.
Žvaigždė (The Star) — Shenandoah, c.1901–1942 · Lithuanian · Immigrant
A long-running Lithuanian Catholic paper of Shenandoah.
See: Lithuanians.
Historic broadcast milestones
These are historic Schuylkill County radio stations — two that signed on in 1946 and one in 1963, including stations now gone. They are recorded here for their place in the county's history, not as currently operating outlets (the active stations are in the Directory's News & media section).
WPAM (1450 AM) — Pottsville, 1946–2017
Signed on in April 1946; the original owner was Miners Broadcasting Service, a group of eight area residents. The station went silent on July 23, 2015, and its FCC license was cancelled on June 29, 2017.
FCC facility 14741. Wikipedia — WPAM (silent 2015; license cancelled 2017) · Beaver County Radio — 'Miners Broadcasting Service' (April 1946 founding; original owners)
WPPA (1360 AM) — Pottsville, 1946–present
Signed on May 9, 1946, and owned by the Pottsville Broadcasting Company (the Tidmore family) ever since. The station still operates; only its founding history is recorded here.
⚑ First-in-county status is NOT asserted: no reliable source confirms WPPA was the first commercial radio station licensed in Schuylkill County. Only the May 9, 1946 sign-on and continuous Pottsville Broadcasting ownership are verified.
Current outlet →. FCC facility 53134. Radio World — 'Pottsville Duo Bucks the Trends' (May 9, 1946 sign-on; Pottsville Broadcasting Co.) · Wikipedia — WPPA
WMBT (1530 AM) — Shenandoah, 1963–2003
A daytimer that signed on in March 1963 and carried Polish-language and ethnic coal-region programming. During the August 1963 Sheppton mine rescue, WMBT's young chief engineer Phil Margush lowered a microphone down the six-inch rescue borehole and established the voice contact that let rescuers speak with the trapped miners. The FCC cancelled its license on April 8, 2003.
⚑ The exact March 19, 1963 sign-on day rests on secondary sources; the year 1963 and daytimer status are confirmed. The Sheppton audio-contact story is carried by a contemporaneous 1963 newspaper account and a 2006 Radio World profile, not by the encyclopedic Sheppton-rescue accounts.
FCC facility 29481. FCC facility record — WMBT, Facility ID 29481 (license cancelled April 8, 2003) · Radio World — 'In 1963, He Crafted an Audio Lifeline' (engineer Phil Margush, WMBT) · Township of East Union — Sheppton Mine Disaster (1963 newspaper account naming WMBT)
Sources
The catalog is a projection of the Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory / Chronicling America and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive, with town detail from Munsell's 1881 History of Schuylkill County and the per-community sources cited above. The full machine-readable catalog is available as /history/newspapers.json.
- Library of Congress — U.S. Newspaper Directory / Chronicling America (Schuylkill County titles)
License: public-domain - Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive (Penn State)
License: reference - Munsell — History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania (1881)
License: public-domain