Coalport Area Coal Museum

COALPORT MUSEUM DISCUSSES TELEPHONE ISSUES (COALPORT) A once collaborative relationship between the Coalport Area Coal Museum and the Glendale Area Public Library has apparently dissolved, as an emailed notice to the Coalport Museum Commission from GAPLI stated they no longer want to share telephone access in the community building which houses both entities. At the October 20th meeting of the Commission, president Bob Counsman elicited ideas from the board, and a motion w...as made and passed to acquire a cell phone to connect to the local T-Mobile service--which offers unlimited talk and text--which allows us to call ALL over North America for a low monthly fee! Curator Richard Snyder announced that Josiah Jones, executive director of the Clearfield County Recreation and Tourism, is planning to visit the Coalport Coal Museum to take photos on October 21st to create a virtual tour of the museumusing a cell phone, Go Pro Fusion 360 and a software program. Once completed, this will allow the viewer on the VisitClearfieldCounty.org website to explore the museum via 360-degree photos, as well as interactive photographs and pop-up explanatory text. These ‘virtual tours’, made in response to the lack of on-site visitation because of COVID-19 closings, are being created not to replace what a real visit to the museum would be like, but allows potential visitors a chance to see what they’ll want to experience in person. The coal museum will also be one of the featured sites of Clearfield County in the upcoming Landmarks pullout section of The Progress newspaper scheduled to be published October 31, 2020. In other news, the board: noted the new display hanger holding mining augers and tamping needles, as well as new shelves to hold larger mining devices. Expressed their appreciation to Virginia Lesher who donated a large number of obituaries for their collection. heard from museum genealogist, Trina Troxell Corson, who described her detailed research of the Ball Cemetery (also known as the Mount Pleasant Cemetery). received a wealth of employee records, photos and stock certificate from the former Candy Bank Mine (Beccaria, PA) from Dan Rebar of Ramey. received a check for $50 from Tony Pino of Delaware donated in memory of Frank Hopnick. Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 2:00 PM in the Coalport Community Building. Residents interested in the early days of bituminous coal mining or area family genealogy are urged to attend.

Please write down our new Coal Museum phone number!

Who remembers this? Irvona Coal snd Coke Mine #5 Explosion, Aug 1928 Submitted by Stu Beitler Pennsylvania | Mining Explosions and Accidents | 1928... COAL MINE EXPLOSION FATAL TO THIRTEEN ONE MINER MAKES WAY TO SAFETY. (By United Press) Coalport, Pa. -- The sole survivor of fourteen men known to have been trapped in the No. 3 mine of the Irvona Coal and Coke Company when an explosion occurred late Wednesday afternoon, today told the story of the blast while rescue workers from various districts explored the gas swept facings of the mine for bodies which might have been overlooked. The survivor, MARINA COCCIA, of Coalport, owes his life more to luck than anything else, he having refused to follow a fellow miner whose body later was brought from the workings badly mangled and burned. COCCIA, one of 150 men in the mine at the time of the blast, was with the fourteen in the section where the blast occurred. The other 136, in another section of the mine, escaped, their working place not having been visited by the force of the explosion. "I was with W. H. MAYS about 3:15 o'clock," COCCIA said. "We heard a dull thud and thought the dynamo had let loose. We were thrown to the ground and smelled gas and felt a terrific heat. MAYS, his face ghastly, turned to me and said, "We'll die now. No one but God can save us." "We ran toward the tunnel exit but were forced back and reaching an entry MAYS dashed to the left. Something sent me to the right. I escaped, poor MAYS is dead." The bodies of the thirteen victims were brought to the surface shortly after midnight. Identifications were made in each instance. Those killed were: STEVE COABLE. EMERY SPANNAR. JOE FULARE. C. W. RICHARDS. CHARLES KUBLEINA, all of Madera. WILLIAM SMALL. JOHN COLLINS. W. H. MAYS, of Coalport. ANDY APRAMOVICH. TONY APRAMOVICH, his son, of Emmons. JAMES HUNT. LOUIS HUNT, brothers, of Irvona. HERMAN BRITTON, Osceola Mills, R.F.D. Officials of the company said it was a dust explosion but refused to advance a cause until a further investigation could be made. This investigation was being carried on today by Deputy State Inspector of Mines Ira H. Thomas of Harrisburg. Most of the bodies brought out were mangled and burned and with but two exceptions all were without clothing, denoting rescue workers said, the explosion was of terrific force. The two bodies not mangled were evidently suffocation victims, physicians stated. Had the explosion occurred 15 minutes later that it did, the mine would have been cleared of humans, officials of the company stated. Sheboygan Press Wisconsin 1928-08-16

COALPORT MUSEUM COMMISSION RECEIVES DRAGLINE MODELS (COALPORT) The recent acquisitions of two dragline models topped the agenda of the Coalport Area Museum Commission meeting held August 20, 2019. Donated to the museum by the daughters of the late Leslie Carson of Brisbin, both are replicas of high-lift bucket draglines crafted back in 1984: a metal one that moves and swings, and another smaller wooden model. Both of these are now in the process of being refurbished by... commission board members, headed by President Bob Counsman, who will also be building a special table on which to exhibit the metal dragline replica with a simulated strip mine. Another restoration task, that of the original pot-bellied stove that came from the old Irvona station of the NY Central Railroad and has been on display at the Coalport Coal Museum for the past few months. Acquired from the former Blain City home of the late George and Ann Sinclair--thanks to current owner Fred Reinellithis stove involved rust removal, body work, spray painting as well as the construction of a rolling structure on which it sits. Trina Troxell Corson, museum genealogist, has been working diligently on the Spangle Family, with a database that not only includes 1,251 Spangle family descendents of the original Samuel Spangle of Coalport, but also 866 items in a media folder that includes: obituaries, photos, birth, death and marriage certificate, etc. Tom and Bonnie Spangle of Coalport, who were in attendance, were impressed with the sheer number of detailed information on his family In other news, the board: thanked AARP-SCSEP worker, Pat Onrubia, for the outstanding job she has done renovating all the displays, updating the coal museum inventory and cleaning out the back section of the reference room. received an original 1894 Prayer and Thanksgiving hymnal book from the old German Church in Rosebud, donated by Diane Andrews. learned of a display case from a former Coalport business that’s been offered to the museum, but will need volunteers and vehicle to help get it delivered. received a list of the family surnames of the many patrons who have recently visited the museum to research their genealogy, such as: Ricketts, Shaw, Snyder, Rickard, and Lorenzen. The next meeting of the Coalport Area Museum Commission is scheduled for Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 2:00 PM in the Coalport Community Building on Forest Street. All people interested in the early days of bituminous coal mining industry or the history of the ‘Glendale Valley’ area are invited to attend.