Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour

The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum


Useful Information

Location: Bald Mountain Rd, Scranton, PA 18504.
McDade Park, Scranton. I-81 north, exit 182, at lights turn left, next lights again left, follow Davis St. for 5 km. I-81 south, exit 191B, then McDade Expressway to Keyser Avenue exit, turn right onto Keyser Avenue, 5 km.
(41.416720, -75.715106)
Open: Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour: APR to NOV Mon, Fri, Sat, Sun 10-16, last tour 14.
Closed Easter Sun, Thanksgiving.
Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum: MAR to DEC Fri, Sat, Sun 10-16.
Scranton Iron Furnaces: All year daily dawn to dusk.
[2023]
Fee: Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour: Adults USD 10, Children (3-12) USD 7.50, Children (0-2) free, Seniors (65+) USD 9.50, Military USD 9.
The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum: Adults USD 7, Children (3-11) USD 5, Children (0-2) free, Seniors (65+) USD 6, Military free.
[2023]
Classification: anthracite mine MineCoal Mine, SubterraneaMining Museum
Light: LightIncandescent
Dimension: T=10 °C.
Guided tours: D=90 m, L=400 m.
Photography:  
Accessibility: with some restrictions
Bibliography: Kevin Patrick (2004): Pennsylvania Caves & other rocky roadside wonders, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, Pa, USA, 248 pp, illus. p 215-216, 229
Address: Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour, Bald Mountain Road, Scranton, PA 18504, Tel: +1-570-963-6463, Free: 1-800-238-7245. E-mail:
The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum, 22 Bald Mountain Roadd, Scranton, PA 18504, Tel: +1-570-963-4804, Fax: +1-570-963-4194. E-mail:
Scranton Iron Furnaces, 159 Cedar Ave, Scranton, PA 18505, Tel: +1-570-963-4804, Fax: +1-570-963-4194. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1860 coal mine opened.
1904 457 men mined 246,560 tons of coal.
1964 51,870 tons of coal produced.
1966 mine closed.
1985 opened to the public as the Lackawanna Coal Mine.

Geology

In Lackawanna Coal Mine hard coal or anthracite, a special form of nearly pure natural carbon was mined. The passages wind along the seams of this rare form of coal. The Pennsylvanian Llewellyn Formation contains numerous rather thin anthracite seams.

Anthracite is quite rare, as it is the end stage of a very long process converting biologic remains, peat, into coal and then into carbon by a certain amount of pressure and heat, called coalification. If the temperature and pressure are too low, the layers will only become coal, if they are too high the carbon will disappear. The exact conditions needed to produce anthracite are rare and so are anthracite deposits, at least compared to the amount of other coal deposits.

Description

Originally called the Continental Mine, when opened in 1860. The 528 foot [160 m]deep shaft intersected half a dozen coal seams.

The underground tour is taken on a mine train which takes the visitor to a depth of 300 feet [90 m] below the surface to the Dumore 1 and 2 levels. The former is only 15 inches [30 cm] high, which means that the miner had to work, outstretched on his side to mine the coal. As all the equipment was left in situ when the mine closed, the tour has the appearance of passing through a working mine. There are life sized mannequins showing everyday working in the mine. At one point there are some fingers protruding from a rock fall. Although more Disneyland than Industrial Archaeology, there is something here to interest both adults and children alike.


Text by Tony Oldham (2005). With kind permission.

Anthracite mining was a very important factor for the prosperity of the area and so there are actually four sites, which are dedicated to this industrial heritage. The first is the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour, the second the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum tells the story of this anthracite mining. These two sites are very close to each other, both geographically and in terms of content, so it is advisable to combine both visits. Then there are the Scranton Iron Furnaces, only 4.6 km to the east in Scranton, and the Eckley Miners’ Village, 50 km south. Both are open air sites and thus accessible freely during daylight hours. There is also a museum at the Eckley Miners’ Village.