History · Foster

Foster’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Foster. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1824established
0old images & papers
7recent photos

The story

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Modern-day Foster Township was first settled in 1824 by John Lines. In 1855, territory was taken from Dennison Township to create a new municipality in Luzerne County; the new territory was incorporated as a township in 1855. It is named after Asa L. Foster. At the time, coal mining and logging were the two major industries in Foster Township.

Before the 1850s, Eckley was not a mining town, but a rural, forested community called Shingletown. It was located on land owned by Tench Coxe. The inhabitants took advantage of the surrounding woodlands and made shingles to be sold in White Haven and Hazleton. These goods were traded for the necessities of life, such as whiskey, port, and tobacco.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Foster

Pennsylvania · PA · Luzerne County
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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01