The following is quoted from Thomas Murphy's 1928 History of Lackawanna County . 1 (Remember that references to now or today refer to 1928 and do not necessarily reflect life in 2003.)
Although the "Ridge" had been settled by Welsh farmers as early as 1831, and some logging had been done nearby, it was not until 1845 with the building of the Gravity from Carbondale that Archbald proper began to assume even the proportions of a village. John D Jones, John Evans, and Daniel and Evan Price, were the original settlers at Eynon or Welsh Hill as it was known. They were farmers and the year after they located were joined by a half dozen other countrymen and their families. In their number was Rev John Davis, a Calvinistic Methodist. Irish immigrants made up the pioneers in "valley" or what is now the town of Archbald. The first of these were Patrick Gilmartin, Thomas Swift, Frank Healey and M M Gilroy. Their coming is fixed as 1845, the year before the opening of the White Oak mine and building of the Gravity road. All were employed on the latter work. Fully a score of families moved in the following year. The original Irish and Welsh settlements were augmented in a few years by colonies of Germans and English. In the seventies a number of Bohemians took up residence in Archbald but moved west within a little while, taking advantage of the government's offer of free land in Nebraska. "Welsh Hill" or Eynon as now called is populated today [1928] by Slavs and Latins. Archbald proper still retains much of its Celtic flavor although there remains a goodly sprinkling of Germans.
At first the new terminal of the gravity railroad was known as White Oak Run. It was on the suggestion of Alvar Eaton that the name was later changed to Archbald, in honor of James Archbald, chief engineer in charge of the building of the railroad to the town. Archbald Borough was carved out of Blakely Township in 1877 and John B Lack elected first burgess. Mining from the beginning has been practically the only industry in Archbald. It is unfortunate that some of the millions taken from the borough in over 80 years since the first mine was opened has not been put back for other industries against the day when anthracite will be exhausted.
Located about half way between Scranton and Carbondale, Archbald early held a position of importance in the development of the valley. The first turnpike from Providence followed the present back road route and passed through the Welsh settlement on the "Ridge." The opening of the Providence-Carbondale turnpike (Main Street) made Archbald a stopping place for the stage. The Gravity railroad gave the town easy access to Carbondale. Later when the railroad was extended to Olyphant, it was possible to get to Scranton with no great difficulty. Once the mining and shipping of coal began in earnest in 1846 and settlers began to come in, stores, taverns and schools were opened. The post office was established in 1847 with G H Snyder in charge. A man named Cannon had the first hotel which he opened in 1846. That same year saw D H Taylor & Co's general store begin business. Peter Welsh, Thomas Healey, John P Farnham, Patrick Moyles, John C Peters, Thomas Kenny and Patrick Gilmartin were also early business men of the town. John P Farnham in the early fifties had a sawmill. John J Swift is credited with being the first child born in the town.
According to Prof James H White, for many years borough superintendent of schools, the first school in the town was a private one opened in 1846 and taught by Miss Elvira Munson, an aunt of General Osborne, of Wilkes-Barre. The building was located near the present St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Wright (some say James) Savage succeeded Miss Munson but taught only a brief time. Alexander Farnham was the first public school teacher. The building was on Academy Street. Later Mr Farnham went to Wilkes-Barre, became a lawyer. Selinas Lewis, "a scholar of much attainment," opened a high grade private school in 1858. Students were received from Carbondale and nearby towns. Mr Lewis was an uncle of John R Jones, afterward district attorney of the county. Among the pupils at this school was the late Rt Rev E A Garvey, Roman Catholic Bishop of Altoona diocese. Before 1875 the town schools were not graded. With the building of a high school that year a graded system of education was introduced. Hon P J White was the first principal, 1875 to 1880. In 1880 the town had the anomaly of two school boards -- Gilroy and Miller -- during which two separate sets of schools were maintained. The principals during the next few years were Prof Robert Shill, James H White, P H Kearney and Miss Margaret Foote. Prof R N Davis, now curator at the Everhart Museum, was high school principal from 1884 to 1897 when Prof W A Kelly succeeded him. Prof Kelly was made superintendent of borough schools in 1904. Among the very distinguished men of letters and medicine who received their early education in Archbald schools (the town was his birthplace), is Dr James J Walsh, dean Fordham University college of medicine, New York. Hon William H Stanton, later a judge, congressman, member of the legislature and state senator, was a teacher in Archbald before taking up law and moving to Scranton.
The Delaware & Hudson Company opened the White Oak mine, the first in town, in 1845. In 1859 the White Oak was sold to Judge Birdseye, of New York, and operated under lease for a few years. At first coal was shipped "run of mine." The breaker was built in 1860. Hosie & Jadwin leased the property turning it over to John Jermyn in 1863. He was succeeded in 1865 by the Boston & Lackawanna Coal Co which purchased the property outright. In 1870 the property was again purchased by the D & H. Edward Jones, who had charge of the White Oak from 1854 to 1858, joined with Alvar Eaton, George Simpson and Dr Robert Wescott in organizing Eaton and Company which began a mining operation on the West Side. Dr Wescott retired from the firm in 1860 and on the death of Mr Eaton in 1874 the interest of his estate was taken over by the surviving partners who operated as Jones & Simpson. The Tinklepaugh Coal Co, which began operating at the Ridge in 1856, gave up in 1862 and later the holdings were taken over by A Carey and Jones, Simpson & Co.
The Archbald Water Company was established in 1875. James J Williams was the first president. The dam was located two miles east of the town. In 1878 Dr John J Foote was elected president of the company while in 1879 George Bishop became superintendent. Dr John Foote opened the first drug store in the town. The Archbald Bank opened for business April 5, 1909, with a capital of $50,000.
For several years after the formation of Archbald borough there was dispute regarding the southern boundary. The Peck lands were found to be in Archbald and Blakely. The owners wanted all in Blakely and the court so ordered. It was not, however, until 1892 that a definite line was fixed.
During the Civil War Archbald furnished its full quota of men. Despite this the town like many another in the state and country had its draft riot. Patrick Gilmartin, an exemplary man of 54, a pioneer in the borough and a prominent merchant, was killed by a volley fired by a marshal's posse October 18, 1862. Mr Gilmartin had no part in the rioting. He was passing from his house to his store at the time.
The Archbald glacial pot hole, the largest in the world, is located on the Hackley tract at Eynon. It was discovered by Patrick Mahon, a miner employed by Jones & Simpson Co in April, 1883. The pot hole surpasses in size the much more noted ones in Switzerland and has been visited by prominent scientists and thousands of other visitors. Col Hackley appropriated $500 for the preservation of the pot hole and under the direction of Edward Jones a stone enclosure was built around it. Numerous other pot holes have since been uncovered in various parts of the borough. J P Lesley, state geologist, when informed of the discovery, explained that the holes are the relics of the glacial period and are the direct result of rocks swirling around in the depressions in the valley bed. He estimated that the ice at Archbald during the glacial period was at least 2,000 feet thick. The tract in which the pot hole is located is now owned by the Lackawanna Historical Society.
Home theatricals furnished about the only amusement for early Archbaldians. In May, 1866, the Archbald Young Men's Institute was organized with Hon W H Stanton as president. Its purpose was educational and recreational. Many of the more progressive young men of the town joined the institute which staged its first production, "The Drunkard" in Ort's Hall, on South Main Street. As an added feature there were several scenes from "Hamlet." Dr John Foote encouraged the society acting as one of the committee to select the casts for productions and painting the necessary scenery. A performance a month was given and in 1867 the company gave a week's performances in the old city courthouse in Carbondale. In 1869 Ort's Hall was destroyed by fire and the Institute fell by the wayside but was reorganized again as "The Archbald Institute" when Swift's Hall was used.
The Father Mathew Catholic Total Abstinence Society was organized February 12, 1880. James T White was first president. Archbald Lodge, No 392, IOOF, was instituted July 4, 1850, with L S Watres, N G Rebekah Lodge, No 85, chartered in Peckville in 1877, removed to Archbald in June that year. The charter members numbered 16. John G Berry was the first N G and Katie Rall, V G.
The Centennial Cornet Band organized in 1873. Edward F Belding was teacher and leader. The Schiller Cornet Band was formed in 1878. Mr Belding was also the leader. Father Mathew Hall was opened November 10, 1882. The initial performance in the hall was "A Celebrated Case," with a cast made up largely of Archbald Institute members. The "Dublin Dan" company performed in Moyles Hall in the seventies.
Fred Goehrs is credited with the first attempt to start a newspaper in the borough. That was in the early sixties. He had type and a press shipped in from New York but when the equipment arrived Goehrs couldn't raise the necessary money ands so the machinery was sent back to the factories. Goehrs went away about the same time and never returned. Several men of the town about 20 years later launched the Archbald News which was set up and printed in Scranton. Its life was a short but lively one. The first number [issue] of the Truth was brought out in Archbald in 1882. The office was on Hill Street. Its projectors moved it to Scranton within a year or so, where it ran as a weekly for a time and finally developed with a daily, the Scranton Truth , which had a prosperous career of 30 years or so. A Mr Gould made the next venture with the Archbald Bee in 1894. Two weeks saw its ends. Undismayed by failure of others, A F McNulty and Miss Nellie O'Donnell in 1894 started the Archbald Citizen . Following Mr McNulty's death the Citizen became the property of Hon P A Philbin in October, 1898. In 1909 he sold the publication and plant to W D McHale and F A Lally, present owners. The Citizen is now housed in a building of its own on Church Street and is a profitable as well as sprightly sheet.
Rev John Davis, who came to the "Ridge" with the second lot of Welsh settlers, organized the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church in 1834. A building was erected in 1848. He died in 1866. The First Presbyterian Church was organized in Blakely Center April 23, 1839, by Rev J R Mosier, of Carbondale, and Rev J B Graves, of Honesdale. From about 1842 until October, 1852, the church was destitute of a regular pastor or supply. It disbanded at that time. Letters were granted for the formation of a new congregation forming at Archbald. Rev H Herrick was stated supply until 1855. A reorganization was effected in April, 1866.
Rev Father Prendergast, of Carbondale, founded St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in 1850 when a frame building was erected. Father McSwiggan was the first resident pastor. He was succeeded by Rev John Loughran in 1870 and the corner stone of a new and bigger church was laid in 1873 by Rt Rev William O'Hara, bishop of Scranton. In a determined effort to pay off the debt on the church, in 1878 members of the congregation through an arrangement with the D & H, Jones & Simpson, John Jermyn and Filer and Livy worked an extra week and raised the necessary amount. Rev N J McManus was pastor at the time. Father McManus was succeeded by Rev P T Roche who died while on a visit to Boston. Next came Rev J V Moylan who in 1892 was transferred to Hazleton. Rev G J Lucas was acting pastor until the appointment of Rev T J Comerford in the fall of 1892. The present pastor is Rev M F Manley. Bishop Hoban on an occasion said that "Archbald had given more of its sons and daughters to the holy cause of religion than any other parish in the diocese." St Thomas' parish hall was dedicated in November, 1914, with Hon Michael J Ryan, of Philadelphia, as the orator of the occasion. During the draft riots of 1863 or 64 it is told that Father John's name was among those subject to draft. He submitted to the order of the government but objected to indignities during the course of the examination. Father John, however, didn't have to go to war as James Brennan offered himself as a substitute.
German Lutherans built a church in the early fifties. It was destroyed by fire in 1858, rebuilt and burned again in 1863. Within a little while thereafter the present brick church of that denomination was built. Rev E D Kiefel was the first pastor.