BILL Bus Trip:  Coal Region Tour
led by Professor Ben Marsh
Includes lunch at the Shamokin OIP
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, 2026

We live very close to a key piece element of American history, the hard coal region that powered the U.S. through the Industrial Revolution. Anthracite was a major part of the energy economy until after WWII, supporting an intricate network of ethnically diverse mining towns.  Mining is gone now, but the towns and the mining landscape remain, among unmatched sites of environmental threat.

Join us on a bus trip to experience this distinct world just 40 miles from Lewisburg. We’ll visit old mine sites, proud-but-shrinking coal towns, ethnic churches and cemeteries, and various environmental challenges including Centralia, the site of a town with an active mine fire below it.

The trip is led by Ben Marsh, retired professor of geography and environmental studies at Bucknell. This is a version of a trip he has offered for many years to classes, professional groups, and community members.

BILL members pay $45 for this special field trip, which includes bus transportation and a fixed-price lunch of pizza, salad and drink. Non-members will pay $5 more.