Coalport Area Coal Museum
961 Forest Street Coalport, PA 16627 (814) 790-0984 (voice or text) Email: [email protected] Richard Snyder, Curator Email: [email protected] Mobile: 814-312-8620 Visit Us: Sundays -- 1:00 to 5:00 PM Thursdays -- 1:00 to 5:00 PM *Contact us for a tour or any special request 
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and COMING SOON . . .
New short stories will be published in Fall 2024 thanks to our friends in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Communications Media Department! IUP students, under the instruction of Dr. Mark Piwinsky, are producing a new video series entitled "Coalport Chronicles" which will include special content from the town's history, beginning with THE DIXIE THEATRE and THE OPERA HOUSE productions. |
Coalport Museum Promoted in United Mine Workers JournalThe Coalport Area Coal Museum is included in the January/February 2024 edition of the United Mine Workers Journal! The national publication was contacted by Curator Snyder following the suggestion of Kim Rudnick, local former miner and UMW member. Snyder's submitted article appears on page 20 along with the museum logo.
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Welcome
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The Coalport Area Coal Museum is open to visitors for the 2024 Season! The museum is available for community members, guests, visitors, and ancestry buffs from 1:00 to 5:00 PM every Sunday and Thursday. While donations are accepted, there is no cost to tour the local bituminous coal history, lumber heritage, regional community and school records and photos, and so much more! View our large photo collection to see what the town used to look like and read about it in archived copies of the Coalport Standard newspaper.
To learn more about our museum watch our video (see link on NEWS page) and then come and see us! New materials are added frequently--if you have already been to the museum, come back again and see what's new! Contributions are welcome as we work to keep the spirit of Coalport and our region alive! *Follow us on Facebook! |
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The Coalport Area Coal Museum is located in the large hallway of the Coalport Community Building at 961 Forest Street in "Historic Coalport" (Beccaria Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania)
Founded in 1991 through the efforts of the Coalport Area Museum Commission and the Glendale Industrial Development Association, our Museum was funded initially by contributions from the community, donations from businesses, and small grants. Thanks to the Coalport Borough Council, the museum was given a 'home' in its expansive corridors of the community building—itself the former Coalport Elementary School built in 1937. Most all of the artifacts in the Coal Museum were donated by families of former coal miners who wished to have their memories preserved following our motto: To Enrich our Future by Preserving the Past. Most of the items on display are from the early hand-loading days of mining bituminous coal---an industry for which our region was primarily known. The town's name of "Coalport"," incorporated as a borough in 1883, most likely derived from the main industry that was quite ubiquitous in our central Pennsylvania region. Our records show there were over 400 coal mines at various times in our Glendale Valley region of central Pennsylvania---widely know for its quality-burning bituminous coal. Although there are currently no deep mines, there are a few coal strip mines still operating in our area. Spoil piles of local mines still dot the region, and, among other places, can even be seen directly behind the Coal Museum. Heading north on Forest Street, there's a large space where the former "Sunshine Mine" existed—as Coalport was one of the very few communities which had a large working mine and tipple practically in the town center! Coalport is one of the five municipalities making up the "Glendale Valley" region and is located three miles from Prince Gallitzin State Park and Glendale Lake. In April 2000, Coalport's downtown section had the honor of being named to the prestigious National Register of Historic Places—with 53 original buildings helping the town earn that distinction. We're not just a 'brick & mortar' building that holds artifacts: our volunteers and curator are quite capable to help explain the bituminous coal mining industry in our region or assist you finding genealogy on hundreds of surnames from our local area. Stop by and check us out! |
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