Foster Township Municipal Offices are located at 1546 Sunbury Road, Pottsville, PA 17901.
Phone: 570‑544‑4137.
Beginnings [1]
This township was formed from portions of Butler, Berry, and Cass early in 1855. The first township election was held at the house of Mr. Heilner, in Monterey, the settlement known now as Mount Pleasant. The township lies in the mountains region between the two coal fields and is very sparsely settled. The southern portion is in the southern coal field, and a somewhat extensive business in mining has been carried on at Mount Pleasant, Glen Carbon and near points.
Who first lived within the present township limits is unknown. In 1831 widow Levan kept a tavern in an old log house on the site of Mount Pleasant. This village grew up under the impetus given to the neighborhood by coal operations in the vicinity by John Graham and others. The buildings are mostly plain stone structures, and many of them are unoccupied. There is no church or post-office there. The principal merchant is Carr Phillips. The traveling public are more than amply provided for at Mount Pleasant by two taverns. For a time prior to 1871, when the mail was carried from Minersville through Mount Pleasant to Sunbury, there was a post-office there.
Glen Carbon, in the southeast corner of the township, is a railway station and post village. It is a small settlement which grew up in consequence of coal operations there. Like Mount Pleasant it is built mostly of stone. Messrs. Crowe & Scott are leading business men and well-known merchants.
Many of the early workings in the township have been abandoned. The colliery at Mount Pleasant was some years since vacated, and purchased by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company.
The Rohersville colliery was opened by Mr. Rohers, of Philadelphia. He was succeeded by his sons William and James B. Rohers, who sunk a slope and built a breaker. They operated the colliery about three years, and were succeeded by Joseph F. Taylor, who worked the mine seven years. His successors were Wells & Detwiler. Later a Boston company operated the colliery, which has for some time been abandoned. East of Rohersville, on the Reed tract, Mr. Taylor worked a small colliery for a time.
John Stanton opened on the Mammoth vein at Glen Carbon, with drifts. He did a successful business for a time, and was succeeded by William and Thomas Verver, who built a breaker and operated ten years. Lucas & Denning leased the colliery and worked it five years, producing fully 50,000 tons annually. A son of William Richardson, owner of the land, succeeded them. Business soon suspended at this colliery, which was idle until it passed into the hands of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. This colliery is known as the Richardson colliery.
The Glendower colliery was opened by Thomas Schollenberger, and subsequently sold to the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company.
Some years ago Joseph F. Taylor sunk a slope on the south dip of the Mammoth vein, and built a breaker and a saw-mill to supply the colliery with lumber. He was succeeded by Thomas Atwood. The Forest Improvement Company were later operators. The present owners are the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company.