Frackville, PA

Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church, Frackville, PA

Anthracite coal was once a dominant source of employment and life in Frackville, is a small borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Arriving into town from the interstate, on Lehigh Avenue, the primary thoroughfare through town, the only thing that appears to shine is the domes of the Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church, constructed in 1915, can be seen far in the distance. Otherwise, the commercial buildings, are seemingly covered in a thin layer of coal dust and grime. Driving requires a navigating a series of potholes that one fears could do real damage to a vehicle. 

Sidewalk on Lehigh Avenue

Water town at the industrial park

Deindustrialization, along with the disappearance of coal mining jobs, has not been kind to Frackville. On the edge of town, an empty industrial park sits idle. The Schuylkill Mall, also on the edge of town, adjacent to the interstate, had just been demolished, even though signs still thanked patrons for shopping. I walked through the business district of Frackville on a Thursday morning in August. Several people were out mowing their lawn before the heat of the day sets in and washing hung from clothesline along residential streets. But commercial activity in the town was limited to a service stations and small restaurant. Chinese restaurants and pizza place would offer services later. Lehigh Avenue as a hole, however, was a series of abandoned building blocks, architecture redolent of better times in need of repair, with cracked sidewalks sprouting weeds and grass. In one abandoned building a campaign sign from two years prior reads, “Veterans for Trump.” I walked by the library, tempted to wander in, to find it there were heavy fans attempting to dry the carpets. The doors of the library propped open by bound volumes of National Geographic magazines. 

St, Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The grim economic fate of the borough obscures the history and background of the community. The local churches reflect the immigrant population of the century ago, with several Orthodox congregations dotting the neighborhoods. Walking in the residential streets, one can find a mixture of well-maintained domiciles, with gardens and well-apportioned homes, with a smattering of dilapidated dwellings punctuating the few square blocks that surround the commercial district. On the other hand, brick factories, warehouses, and fraternal buildings sit empty, awaiting a new usage and return to better times. 

More photographs from Frackville.