Coalport Area Coal Museum
PO Box 17 825 Main Street Coalport, PA 16627 (814) 329-9598 (voice or text) Email: [email protected] Richard Snyder, Curator Email: [email protected] Visit Us: Sundays -- 1:00 to 5:00 PM Thursdays -- 1:00 to 5:00 PM **Additional Days May Be Added **Contact us for a tour or any special request 
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MUSEUM HOLDS GRAND OPENING!
The Coalport Area Museum Commission has chosen to keep the community heritage ALIVE by moving the museum's assets to our new location at 825 Main Street, Coalport, PA 16627. This new address for the museum is the former site of the historic opera house (*Watch our documentary on this Coalport Opera site!) On Monday, December 29, a number of board members, assisted by several Glendale School students and community members, assisted a professional moving company move and relocate nearly all materials from the former site on Forrest Street to the new site. Thanks to the generosity of our volunteers and a few community members, we have been able to set up the majority of our display items for the new 2026 season opening on February 15! Displays have been filled and put in place, reference materials have been placed on shelves and organized, and documents, maps and other memorabilia have been secured to walls awaiting guests and visitors. *IF you are interested in keeping our Coal Museum OPEN for the future, donations are requested to assist with new monthly expenses such as rent and utilities, volunteers are encouraged to assist with tours, ancestry research, and community involvement, and workers are appreciated who can assist with shelving, cabinetry, and with other skill sets. Our two newest video projects, one featuring the VFW VETERANS BANNERS lining Main Street and the other detailing the historic CENTRAL HOTEL, are now published thanks to our friends in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Communications Media Department! Our huge collaborative venture with the VFW begins with the video feature, VFW VETERANS BANNER PROJECT, which is now available for viewing. Curator Snyder is spearheading a large research project involving locating the specific military record for each deceased veteran of every war or conflict interred within each local cemetery or graveyard. The 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. The newly added CENTRAL HOTEL production highlights the rich history of the hotel, housing miners and guests for many decades. See the links at right to enjoy our videos. If you would like to learn more about our museum, call or email our curator using contact information at left. |
Online Contributions
For those of you interested in donating using the VENMO or PayPal platforms, simply scan the QR code below and to send your donation or pay for your souvenir merchandise. Your contributions are always greatly appreciated! 
Enjoy our Documentaries!
"Mine For Your Life - A Coalport Story" Our first documentary presenting the history of the community, our museum, and some notable events "Museum Archives" Learn about our museum's treasured ancestry section. Family histories, school yearbooks, birth, death, and marriage certificates and more! We can help you trace your roots! "VFW Veteran Banners" Pay homage to our service veterans from Coalport and the Glendale Valley Region who are visible as you drive through the community! COALPORT CHRONICLES Enjoy our short stories about local buildings, events, and people! Opera House Dixie Theater Central Hotel Coalport Museum Promoted in United Mine Workers Journal
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We are OPEN for Business....and ready for Visitors!
The Coalport Area Coal Museum is back open 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 and learn all about 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 or read about it in archived copies of the Coalport Standard newspaper.
Preview and learn more about our coal museum as well as our local family genealogy archives watch our video (*see link on our 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!
The Coalport Area Coal Museum is back open 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 and learn all about 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 or read about it in archived copies of the Coalport Standard newspaper.
Preview and learn more about our coal museum as well as our local family genealogy archives watch our video (*see link on our 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 at 825 Main Street in "Historic Coalport Borough" of 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 database of 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. 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. Other municipalities are: Irvona Borough and Beccaria Township in Clearfield County; White and Reade Townships in northern Cambria County. 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 this distinction. Our Coal Museum is honored to now be housed in one of those recognized historic buildings downtown! 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 any Sunday or Thursday during our OPEN HOURS (1 - 5 PM) |
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