(Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of photo features showing area communities. Others will be published periodically. If you live in Tamaqua, see if you can find your home in any of the accompanying photos)

By ANDREW LEIBENGUTHaleibenguth@tnonline.comSitting between the eastern valleys of Schuylkill County, Tamaqua was founded in 1799 by German immigrant Burkhardt Moser. Roughly half of Moser's original log cabin is still intact and visible behind a house on the east side of Broad Street. The discovery of anthracite coal in the region in the early 19th century led to the town's rise as a coal producing community. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1832. German, Welsh, and Irish immigrants came to the borough in the 1840s and 1850s, followed by a large influx of Italians, Slovaks, Poles and Lithuanians in the 1890s and early 20th century.Until the late 1960s, Tamaqua was a hub of railroad activity, namely the Reading Company (RDG) and Lehigh & New England (LNE).According to the US Census website, Tamaqua had a population of 7,107 in 2010. That is a decrease of less than 1 percent since the 2000 Census. a drop of less than 1 percent from 2000.The 2000 US Census listed Tamaqua as having 3,602 housing units, 3,179 households and 1,901 families residing in the borough. Of that, 24.8 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9 percent were married couples living together, 11.9 percent had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2 percent were non-families.The site added that the borough's population consisted of 21.8 percent under the age of 18, 6.9 percent from 18 to 24, 28.4 percent from 25 to 44, 21.7 percent from 45 to 64, and 21.2 percent who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.0 males.The median income in 2000 for a household in the borough was $27,899, and the median income for a family was $36,406. Females had a median income of $20,637, compared to males at $29,970.