Frackville celebrated its centennial in 1976 while James Nahas was mayor. It was a weeklong event from August 22 to 28 which hosted parades each night and brought the community closer together. The borough's 125th anniversary celebration was held in 2001 and had similar events and effects. It culminated with a Frackville Cruise Night that had routes running throughout the borough.
Frackville sits in the middle of Northeastern Pennsylvania's historic Coal Region, about 4 miles south of Shenandoah. Coal mining has largely ceased in the area. Coal mining was never actually done in Frackville itself; it was, however, a source of transporting the coal through the now-defunct railroad companies. Many of Frackville's residents are employed at local factories, retail outlets, and the numerous Pennsylvania State Prisons in the immediate area. Many more commute daily to the cities of Pottsville, Hazleton, Allentown, Reading or Harrisburg to work. Frackville is indeed surrounded by many prisons.
In 1900, the population was 2,595; in 1910, 3,118; and in 1940, 8,035. The population was 4,361 at the 2000 census.
People in town are currently working to strengthen the borough. In 2003, Frackville became a partner of the Upper Schuylkill Regional Main Street program along with neighboring communities Ashland, Girardville, Mahanoy City, Ringtown and Shenandoah. Since that time the borough has flourished with one successful venture after another each year since 2003. The numerous educational programs including grant writing courses arranged through the regional program made it possible to complete $523,304.00 in projects in the targeted central business district in Frackville Borough from 2004 and continuing through 2008. The Upper Schuylkill Design Challenge Grant program provides facade assistance to business and property owners for restoration projects.
Frackville has over half a dozen parks which are used often by residents of all ages. Among the borough’s sports leagues are: Frackville Mountaineer mini, pee-wee and midget football teams, Frackville Area Softball Association, Frackville Legion Baseball Team, Frackville tee-ball, intermediate and Little League Baseball teams, CYO basketball teams and many others. The numerous civic agencies such as the Elks, American Legion, Rotary, Masons, Knights of Columbus and Lions Club hold regular events to involve the citizens of the borough. Frackville has a borough pool which opens each spring for the citizens to use. There are more than a dozen churches in the borough. The borough is serviced by three fire companies and the Frackville Ambulance Service. In 1986 music historian Maxim W. Furek published "The Jordan Brothers: A Musical Biography of Rock's Fortunate Sons." The book traced the career of Frackville's Jordan Brothers who appeared on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" and were headliners on Clark's 49-day "Caravan of Stars" that toured the United States and Canada. The Jordans were featured on several Alan Freed stage shows and were mainstays on all the important East Coast TV programs, especially in the Tri-State area.Their biggest hit, in 1966, was "Gimme Some Lovin. In a commercial bumper during an episode of Pardon the Interruption that first aired August 3, 2010, Tony Kornheiser mentioned that in Frackville it's 20 degrees colder than anywhere else on Earth.
Data from wikipedia.com