Mahanoy City Map
Mahanoy City (pronounced ma-HA-noy) is a borough located 50 miles (80 km) north by west of Reading and 13 miles southwest of Hazleton, in northern Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania or the southern Coal Region. The name "Mahanoy" is believed to be a variation of the Native American word 'Maghonioy', or "the salt deposits".
Mahanoy City, originally a part of Mahanoy township was settled in 1859 and incorporated as a borough by decree of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Schuylkill County on December 16, 1863. The borough was a major center of anthracite production and the region was embroiled in the Molly Maguires incidents. It is served by branches of the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia & Reading railways. The borough is situated in the valley of Mahanoy Creek, approximately 4 miles southeast of Shenandoah, PA and 11 miles northeast of Tamaqua, PA. Mahanoy City has an elevation of 1240 ft. above the sea; Broad Mountain (1795 ft), a ridge extending through Schuylkill county, overlooks it on the S.E. The valley is also part of the anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania, fire clay abounds in the vicinity, and the borough's principal industries are still the mining and shipping of coal although the demand for it has steadily declined since its peak in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Aside from coal, the manufacturing of shirts, bedding and foundry products is also fairly prominent.
In 1930 the St. Nicholas Coal Breaker was built and went into operation in 1932. The now famous anthracite breaker was closed in 1963 yet still stands today.
Nearby cities include Minersville, Orwigsburg, Gordon, New Ringgold, Tresckow.