Lykens, PA

Lykens sits in the Wiconisco Creek valley below Short Mountain, Big Lick Mountain, and Berry Mountain, with US 209 running through the borough toward Millersburg and Pottsville. The town was laid out in 1848 and incorporated in 1871, but its real early driving force was anthracite. Coal operations in the surrounding Lykens Valley sent workers, rail lines, and business toward the borough, which became the commercial center for the valley's mines. The Lykens Valley Coal Company's old workings lay near Bear Gap, and the creek carried the name through the region. Today Lykens is a compact borough with a coal-country landscape behind it: steep mountains, a narrow valley, and the roads that connect the old mining communities.