The inhabitants took advantage of the surrounding woodlands and made shingles to be sold in White Haven and Hazleton.

By autumn of 1854, the company had constructed a saw mill to provide lumber necessary for the colliery buildings, including the breaker, stable, and store house.

The scattered forest dwellings of the residents of Shingletown were quickly replaced by two rows of red wooden frame houses with black trim.

By the late 1850s and early 1860s, these colliers were joined by groups of Irish farmers who had immigrated to America after the devastating Great Famine in their homeland.

The Irish were generally unskilled in the field of mining and so received the lowest-skilled, lowest-paying jobs.

Over time, the Irish learned the skills of mining and moved into better-paying, higher-skilled jobs.

Many of these immigrants came to America expecting to work in the mines just long enough to save money, buy land, and return to the farming lifestyle they had known in Europe.

First class miners, those men with experience in mining, were assigned the 2+1⁄2-story double houses in the middle of the village.