Anthracite schools, were heated with anthracite-burning furnaces through the 1980s. During the American Civil War, Confederate blockade runners used anthracite as a smokeless fuel for their boilers to avoid giving away their position to the blockaders. The invention of the Wootten firebox enabled locomotives to directly burn anthracite efficiently, particularly waste culm. In the early 20th century US, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad started using only the more expensive anthracite coal in its passenger locomotives, dubbed themselves "The Road of Anthracite," and advertised widely that travelers on their line could make railway journeys without getting their clothing stained with soot.
Anthracite Bank Building For several years beginning in 2002, the building served as the Anthracite Inn Bed & Breakfast operated by owner Donald Serfass. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Anthracite Bank Building Anthracite Bank Building, also known as The Beard Building, is a historic former bank building located at Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1850, and is a three-story, three bay wide, brick building in the Italianate style. The first floor exterior is white marble. It housed Tamaqua's first financial institution until 1865. It later served as home of Civil War hero Col.