Jermyn, once a thriving coal town in the Anthracite Region and originally known as Four Mile Town, later bore the names Rushdale, Baconville, and Gibsonburg before being named in 1874 for its first mayor, John Jermyn. Around the turn of the twentieth century, its economy included coal mines, cut-glass works, silk, powder, grist, planing, and saw mills, bottling works, and fertilizer factories, and in 1910 it had 3,158 residents. Jermyn became known as the Birthplace of First Aid in America when, in 1899, Dr. Matthew J. Shields conducted the nation's first first aid training class at the Windsor Hotel, teaching 25 miners from the Jermyn Coal Colliery to provide immediate care until a physician could reach the mine, a practice that led to dramatic reductions in serious mining injuries and fatalities. Shields' work was later championed by the American Red Cross, which recognized him and selected him to teach industrial first aid from 1910 to 1917 and to launch a national first aid movement. The borough's history also included the July 29, 1874, shooting of colliery foreman A.L. Green by three members of the Molly Maguires, an attack Green survived after powder mill employees intervened, and the devastating fire of March 24, 1904, which burned five buildings, including Assembly Hall, and displaced Shields before he moved his practice to Scranton. Occupying about one square mile and home to about 2,100 residents, Jermyn endured destructive flooding in 2003 and later pursued revitalization projects while maintaining its historic small-town character.