In a text from the series 'Letters from a trip around the world', the town of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, is mentioned, where 'all the signs are in English and Polish'. The article goes on to outline the Nanticoke area, followed by the history of the Polish community that settled there - the Poles of the area are mainly miners, similarly, almost the entire town board is made up of Poles; Polish shops and butcheries are also established. The text is accompanied by photographs of, among other things, Polish houses from the Nanticoke area (Source: "Ziemia. Tygodnik Krajoznawczy Ilustrowany" Warsaw 1914, no. 3, pp. 11-13, after: Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa).

A modernised reading of the text.

Letters from a trip around the world
. VII. Nanticoke, Pa.

In New York, especially in the East Side, Jews are so dominant that city signs in public places are mostly in two languages: English and jargon. There is, however, a small town in Pennsylvania where all the signs are in English and Polish; that town is Nanticoke on the Susquehanna River. Both banks of this river are an incredibly rich coalfield, capped on the left bank by the Penobscot Mountains chain (1,500 st) and on the right by the Shickshinny Mountains (1,440 st). The river is mountainous in character, with a rocky bottom criss-crossed by rows of rocks and faults; the Susquehanna is not navigable, but a canal stretches along it to the Chesapeake Bay, where coal was formerly floated to the ocean. Today this canal, laboriously constructed, is overgrown, silted up and a favourite home of marsh fowl, while coal shipments follow the railways on both banks of the river: the Leigh Valley line on the right and the Pennsylvania on the left. The Susquehanna basin is the matrix of the state's coal industry, for it was here that the first mines stood, and Polish workers soon flocked to them. At first they built settlements among the forests and rocks, in romantic surroundings, where bears and moose used to sneak through and were closely followed by the redskins. A few such settlements have survived to this day, such as the characteristic settlement in Lee, where the brave Cracovian Marcin Ludał from near Bochnia resides. Over time, however, the population began to concentrate in the town of Nanticoke, which has grown to 20 000, of which more than 50% are Poles. The Poles in Nanticoke are mostly miners. In the mine, only Polish talk is heard; before work begins, a chat about the day's news is held; they sit down on a log: one from Śrem, one from Lipno, one from the Tarnów or Dukla area, a few Kurpie, a few Mazurians, a Podlasie, a Krakowiak - all Polish. Having put in the work, the miners earn quite well, so they build for themselves or buy ready-made houses, and become citizens of the city and the state. In order to satisfy their needs, a not at all powerful merchant state has formed, rich and influential, so that when elections come, Poles are such a powerful force that they run their candidates. At present, the town board is almost entirely Polish: the major is a Pole Madejewski, the treasurer is a Pole Wenta, the director of the school board is a Pole Karbowski, the judge is a Pole Lubski, other minor offices are also mostly held by Poles. This is very tempting for the Irish, who have so far held the helm here, and our people do not like these "aryans". To disguise themselves they usually call them "greens" or "Cossacks". Gradually, the Polish element type takes the life of the town into its own hands: it has its own butchers, collieries, elbow shops, haberdashery and grocery shops. There are five bakers in the town: four Poles and one Englishman. There are two bookshops, a couple of photographers, tentmakers, watchmakers, jewellers, milliners, milliners, there are 2 doctors, 2 solicitors, realty offices, a dentist, three Roman Catholic parishes and one independent. Collective life is manifested in numerous associations, such as the Falcons, the Scouts, the Star of Youth, the Choir de Reszke, 2 orchestras, the Kraszewski library, a funeral fund and others. The Falcons have built the nicest hall in town, and all the rallies, concerts and theatres in town, English, Slovak, Italian are always held in the "Polish Falcon Hall". National affairs are of keen concern to the Poles in Nanticoke. At one rally, I saw upwards of a thousand of them, and there are some remarkably interesting types among them, especially in the older generation. While one lady already born here told me: "My father is driving me out to the country, but I would rather go to California", an older woman, already the grandmother of grandchildren, told me: "I've lived here 25 years now, and I miss my country more and more. More now than before". Another old woman told me about the children born here: "A local is like a wild bird, even though you tame it, it is still a stranger". However, I also met here an ardent patriot, born in America and speaking pure Polish; she had been to Poland twice, visited Poznań, Warsaw, Cracow and Wieliczka, and here in Nanticoke she taught Polish history to children, and had 123 pupils. Quite a few also return to the country, most Galicians, fewer Königsbergers, least Poznanians. The Galicians send a lot of money home; I was told in the bank that out of 100 000 doi. sent to Galicia, only 100 goes to Poznański. As I was leaving Nanticoke, an old miner from near Sanok, with a tear in his eye, said to me: "When you get back to your country, say hello to all your brothers and to the whole land, even though I haven't been there for 28 years". We hugged each other warmly and, before I return to the country, I hasten to send a letter of greeting to all my brothers and to the whole land from the old miner and the homeless wanderer.