Coordinates: 40 41 N 76 12 W
Population: 15,549 (2000 est.)
Responsible for the dismissal of a Harvard University president, enjoyed by the Founding Fathers (in all of their wisdom), and commercially available since 1612, beer has been an ever-present commodity in United States history. Recognizing this fact and wishing to bring attention to “small, independent, and traditional brewers and contributions the craft beer community makes to our economy, culture and history,” the Brewers Association has designated May 14-20 American Craft Beer Week. Geographically speaking, one might argue for Pottsville, on the Schuylkill River in the Delaware Valley, as the cradle of this seductive substance. It was here in the coal mining region roughly 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia, that D. G. Yuengling established the Eagle Brewery in 1829, a business that survived Prohibition to become the oldest of its kind in the country. Still the largest city in Schuylkill County, Pottsville has been shrinking in size since the 1940s.
Ben Keene is the editor of Oxford Atlas of the World. Check out some of his previous places of the week.
I love beer.
Hi Pamela. If you like beer, and you like geography, you might seek out an entertaining book called “Travels With Barley”