LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — A valuable history lesson lies far beneath the surface of McDade Park in Scranton.
"I think the coal mine tour is important to the whole region, not only Lackawanna County, but the whole region itself," said Art Moran, Lackawanna County's director of parks and recreation.
The Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour is back open for the season, taking groups into a former active mine underneath the park. Lackawanna County is hoping for a busier season this year after COVID shut the tour down in 2020 and shortened the season in 2021.
"The school trips are booking. Last year we had almost none. This year we're very busy with them. This year, the schools, the Boy Scouts, all the groups – we're very happy about that," Moran added.
"I like when we get the kids in here. Once they get down here to the bottom, they realize what it takes to even have this mine open. You look at those timbers there; they're not easy to move around. The kids really get a kick out of it," said one of the tour's foremen, William Neidlinger.
Visitors learn from Neidlinger, a fifth-generation coal miner from Schuylkill County who has transitioned from mining to educating. For him, preserving this history is personal.
Neidlinger and his father work year-round to preserve the mine.
"Once we shut down in November, the end of November, December, January, February, and March, me and my father are down here doing a lot of the work. Changing timbers out, any that are bad," he said.
This off-season, they worked on making the tour more wheelchair accessible and replacing the cables that carry the car in and out of the mine.
The Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour is open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. The staff hopes to expand to more days during the week as the season continues.
The season runs until November.
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