TAMAQUA  , a

borough of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the Tamaqua (Little Schuylkill) river, about 20 M. above its junction with the Schuylkill, about 17 M . E.N.E. of Pottsville, and about 98 m . N. of Philadelphia . Pop . (189o) 6054; (1900) 7267, (625 foreign-born); (191o) 9462 . Tamaqua is served by the Central railroad of New Jersey, by the Philadelphia and Reading railway and by an electric line connecting with Mauch Chunk, Pottsville, and other places . Tamaqua is in a rich anthracite coal district, and coal-mining is its chief industry . Among manufactures are foundry and machine-shop products, powder, stoves, furniture, hosiery, &c . The borough owns the water-works . The first settlement here was made in 1799 and anthracite coal was discovered in 1817 . In 1829 Tamaqua was laid out and received its present name, an Indian word meaning " running water . " It was incorporated as a borough in 1833 .

Between 1869 and 1875 the Molly Maguires were active here .