The first and oldest coal mine in Hazleton closed in 1955.
Now, a group of volunteers is working with the city to reopen the mine to bring the region’s history back to life — this time through tourism, not mining.
“Not only do we want to blow people's socks off, giving them the best mine tour that they've ever had, but we also want to reconstruct the original breaker because there's none left. They've all been torn down,” Justin Emershaw said.
Emershaw is a mine engineer with American Anthracite. He’s also a member of the volunteer, nonprofit organization Underground Miners that proposed the project, which is in the preliminary stages.
Underground Miners reopened the Brooks Mine at Nay Aug Park in Scranton in August 2023.
“We showed the public just what we can do and really put a good name for the industry and the group, and now it's like we want to take that another level, a level further,” Emershaw said.
The Hazleton mine off West Broad Street will be their biggest undertaking yet.
"Everybody that's in the group, they're all super passionate about the industry, about the heritage," he said.
Underground Miners have an enthusiastic partner in Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat.
"We have the opportunity to do something and show people what it was like at the turn of last century,” he said. “It’s something I really want to focus on, you know, preserving the history of Northeast Pennsylvania and ... the whole coal industry.”
Cusat announced the plans during a Wednesday screening of WVIA’s documentary “The Secrets Beneath Hazleton” by WVIA producer, director and editor Timothy Novotney, a Hazleton-area native.
Novotney’s original 10-minute VIA Short Take was the impetus for the coal mine tour.
'It's going to be really cool'
Emershaw said they hope to replicate the original Hazle Mines Breaker. Inside raw coal from mines was crushed, sorted and cleaned.
The new breaker will feature a museum, gift shop and a craft brewery with a steam punk theme.
“When people think of anthracite heritage, you know, there's a few things that come to mind,” Emershaw said. “Breaker boys, the mules, but almost everybody recognizes the coal breaker. I think to bring one back and make it an actual public house and an attraction, I think it's going to be really cool.”
Visitors will be lowered down an 884-foot slope into the mine. Tour guides dressed in fashions from the 1800s and knowledgeable in the region’s coal mining history will usher visitors through the mine.
The history
Emershaw said the mine opened in 1838. At one time it employed 1,700 people.
"The environment these guys worked in, everything needed to be underground to support the daily activities, to support the miners and to keep them safe,” he said.
Under Hazleton were stables for mules, motor repair shops, hospitals for the miners and offices, he said. The mine also had barber shops and a speakeasy.
Emershaw said the Hazleton Mine Tour could give visitors the experience of just how massive the industry was at its heyday.
"What I hope it does for the public is it's going to show them what a large scale colliery operation in the 1800s looked like, which is a lot different than what you see at say Lackawanna [Coal Mine Tour] or you know Pioneer Tunnel,” he said.
The Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train is in Ashland.
Next steps
The city is in contract for the property, Cusat said. He already has a commitment from a local charity for a large amount of funding for the tour.
The city is also working on grants, he said.
Underground Miners will then go in and do all the restoration work and run the tour and the operation, Emershaw said.
"We have to try to develop it, reconstruct it, bring in engineers. Then we also have to raise enough money to see if we could get this off the ground, then obviously try to recreate that structure,” Cusat said.
The mine tour could tie in with the city’s downtown revitalization, he said.
"I just think it would really be a boom to the city of Hazelton and a tourist attraction like no other,” Cusat said.
