Huntingdon County Coal Miner’s Museum reopens Saturday after restoration project

HUNTINGDON COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Broad Top Area Coal Miner’s Museum is reopening to guests after an eight-month restoration project.

The museum will be open Saturday, August 13, and Sunday 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Inside what used to be the Reality Theatre in Robertsdale, visitors will find displays and memorabilia outlining the rich history of mining and railroading towns, including model trains, radios, horse saddles and more.

“They’ll have a chance to see what it was like many years ago,” Broad Top Area Coal Miner’s Restoration Project President Ron Morgan said. “The museum focuses not just on the coal mining itself, or the steam railroading, but the lives and the hardships and the good times of the coal miners and their family.”

Morgan said music, movie-making, and recreation had become town staples. He said every community in the Broad Top Area had its own baseball team, and many had their own theatres, musicians and more.

The reopening comes after Morgan said the museum moved from a nearby former church. This is the second time the museum is in the Reality Theatre, which Morgan noted is in a location closer to downtown.

“We were [at the church] until last year,” Morgan said. “We came back to the theatre mainly because of need for more visibility.”

Morgan said old theatres like the Reality, which was built in 1948 after a previous Robertsdale theatre was destroyed in a fire, are one of the many gems of mining town history.

The museum is coordinating with the Robertsdale Community Days for the first time to bring visitors into the area.

“The idea is to get more people into the area through Raystown Lake and throughout the region,” Morgan said.