[Liquidated](https://12bytes.org/photos/black-diamonds/) these photographs generally date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s - they tell a small part of the story about the rich and difficult history of anthracite (hard) coal mining in the n. central/eastern PA region - the film [The Molly Maguires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Molly_Maguires_%28film%29) with Sean Connery was shot in the area (this is a very tough area and rumor has it that filming had to paused while Connery, who insulted some chick in a bar, was recovering from his wounds) i never learned why these pix were taken - most are 8x10 and many have a fabric backing and descriptions on the back - i can only assume they were taken for insurance purposes since many were of equipment and had no people in them the Cameron colliery (aka Glen Burn) is a very interesting topic for me - the mining waste (culm, tails) created the largest man-made mountain in the world according to Guinness - the 'Burn' is (or was) either the largest or 2nd largest coal mine in the world apparently (some pictures of our explore can be found [here](https://12bytes.org/photos/abandoned/) )