Alaska

Alaska is a ghost town in Mount Carmel Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania — once a thriving patch town built around the coal industry. The Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company sank a deep mine shaft here in 1874, and the Alaska Colliery became the community's entire reason for being. At its height, the operation supported close to 800 miners and turned out roughly 300,000 tons of coal each year, sustaining a tight-knit working community typical of Pennsylvania's anthracite region.

Like many patch towns tied to the Middle Anthracite Field, Alaska faded as coal's regional dominance waned. Today the town is essentially gone, leaving behind a quiet rural setting where visitors with an interest in industrial history can take in the landscape and reflect on what once stood here. Expect no formal amenities or preserved structures — this is a place for explorers comfortable with a raw, uninterpreted site.