Slate Industry
Bangor, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Robert M. Jones of Wales, who came here in 1848 as an immigrant, began the slate quarrying industry. The region became a major world center for slate. From here came slate for roofs and old-time school slates and pencils.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
When Welsh immigrant Robert M. Jones arrived in 1848, he opened the first slate quarries around Bangor, drawing on skills carried from the slate country of Wales. The industry boomed, and the region became one of the world's leading producers of slate for roofing and for the writing slates and pencils once found in every schoolhouse. Waves of Welsh workers followed, giving the area a distinct heritage that endured for generations.
Why it matters
The Bangor slate belt shows how immigrant know-how built a world-leading American industry, and its school slates literally furnished the classrooms of a rising, literate nation.
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Related people
- · Robert M. Jones
Themes & tags
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