Pennsylvania’s southern coal region is the largest of the state’s four anthracite coal fields and boasts the world’s longest operating anthracite deep mine, the No. 9 in Lansford.

But the state’s northeast coal region is home to the first deep-vein anthracite mine in the United States, dating back to June, 1831.

I recently took a drive to visit the site in Carbondale, Lackawanna County. The city is situated 15 miles northeast of Scranton in the northernmost reaches of the coal fields. The first deep mine came before the emergence of photography.

Because of that, little photographic evidence is available to document those earliest days.

But historical records tell how the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company was created in 1823 to mine coal and get it to a growing market in New York City.

To do this, a gravity railroad was created between Carbondale and Honesdale. The city also served as a terminal of the Delaware and Hudson Railway and was served by the Erie Railroad and the New York, Ontario and Western Railway.

What surprised me was the foresight of town citizens in honoring their mining milestone at such an early date.

They erected a marker at the site in 1901 as part of the golden anniversary of the town.

The mine monument stood at the city’s Seventh Avenue railroad crossing at the spot of the shaft.

But 50 years later, the town was forced to move it, the start of four different relocations before it finally made its way back home.

According to the Carbondale Historical Society and Museum, the upheaval started with a large mine fire on the town’s west side which reportedly began about 1946 and burned until the 1970s.

The runaway blaze prompted the marker’s relocation in the early 1960s by the Gillen Coal Company. They moved it to 78 Cottage Street for the next dozen years.

Afterward it was hauled to the front of Columbia Hose Company, current site of the town library. After that, the monument was relocated to the Sixth Avenue side of the Carbondale Fire Department.

Finally, in mid-October 2003, the monument was returned to its original position near the Seventh Avenue railroad crossing.

The unveiling was done by Edward D. Yankovich Jr., president, United Mine Workers of America and drew dignitaries from across the state.

Like virtually all of Pennsylvania’s coal towns, Carbondale thrived during its King Coal days. The area lured immigrants seeking work, with many from Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and continental Europe finding employment in the mines or on the railroad.

The city reached a peak of 20,000 residents in 1930. Today the population stands at 8,828.

Carbondale is served by the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority and its designated-operator Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad on a single remaining Delaware and Hudson mainline track running to Scranton, now called the Carbondale Mainline.

The site of America’s first anthracite deep mine shaft is now a small park located just a stone’s throw from the front of Hendrick Manufacturing Company, Seventh Avenue.