My interest in Scranton history derives from my Irish ancestors who escaped the potato famine and lived in the Providence borough of Scranton, Pennsylvania for 25 years until they settled in Nebraska in 1879.

I have struggled to visualize their everyday surroundings simply because many buildings from their time no longer exist.

That is, until I discovered a series of photographs taken during the Civil War of the Scranton area by Thomas H. Johnson. Commissioned by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, the purpose was to document their intricate network of mining operations. This is why most areas shown are outside Scranton city.

I’ve used maps, newspaper articles, and local history books to identify landmarks my ancestors would have known well. The school house James Jr. attended before working as a slate picker in the coal mine at 10 years old. Industrial structures James Sr. saw daily as a blacksmith for the mining company. Main thoroughfares which hosted churches for every denomination and shops for every trade. Simple homes of tradesmen and mansions of the elite existed in close proximity to each other.

Here are my versions of the photographs, and at the end I have curated my top images from the collection with links to the originals at the National Gallery of Art’s website.