Nanty Glo was formally incorporated as a borough on September 2, 1918, however; Nanty Glo’s history predates the incorporation. In the 1890’s settlers from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England established the town of Glenglade which consisted of thirteen homes and was a lumber camp type town. In the early 1890’s huge coal deposits were found in the settlement and commercial mining was initiated in 1896. On February 20, 1901, Glenglade became Nant-y-glo which is Welsh for streams of coal. Nanty Glo was featured in articles in both Time and Life magazines in the 1940’s. The May 10, 1943, edition of Life contains a photo essay by Alfred Eisenstaedt of miners’ everyday lives in Nanty Glo.
As coal was one of the town’s biggest assets in our history, the Ghost Town Trail is one of our town’s biggest assets now. The Ghost Town Trail runs directly through Nanty Glo which brings a lot of interest in outdoor activities. You can find walkers and bicyclists on the trail any time of the day. Even though we are a small town with a population of less than 2,500, we have a lot to offer. We have a beautiful park and pool with campsites conveniently located next to a new portion of the Ghost Town Trail. This trail extension will connect parts of the trail and when the entire 32-mile loop is completed, the Ghost Town Trail will be the first continuous rail-trail loop in the eastern United States.
The section of the trail that begins in Nanty Glo has multiple trail access points nearby and is considered the Breezewood of the Ghost Town Trail. On the trail, you will follow a path that was traveled by Native Americans, Loggers, Iron furnace workers and Miners, This section of the trail passes through large areas of PA state game lands. You may come across deer, turkey, black bears, and other small game animals.