Emergency medical services are provided jointly by Freeland Northside Community Ambulance and White Haven Rescue Unit.

[3] At the time, coal mining and logging were the two major industries in Foster Township.

[4] Before the 1850s, Eckley was not a mining town, but a rural, forested community called Shingletown.

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, such as the breaker and stable.

The first residents of Eckley were mostly English and Welsh immigrants who came from the mines in Great Britain.

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

These groups included people from Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Italy.

Homes are scattered throughout the community; the census-designated place of Hickory Hills is located near the center of Foster Township.