Anthracite, known in the coal region as "black diamond," shaped a world of mines, railroads, furnaces, industry, and city landscapes in which immigrants gave their sweat and lives to the Industrial Revolution, their children toiled away their youth in the breakers, and their wives endured frequent tragedies. In the Wyoming Valley, companies helped shape the local economy, prosperity was reflected in the skyline, and park land still bore the mark of the nation's foremost landscape architectural firm. The Susquehanna, nearby creek, and wetlands were part of this story as well, along with shad runs, steamboats, bridges linking both sides of the river, and pumping stations that helped protect valley communities from the river's periodic wrath.