LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Pieces of history on the move to Scranton's McDade Park. These artifacts all came from what's left of the Moffat Coal Breaker, an important part of Lackawanna County's coal mining legacy.
"The history of Lackawanna County and the mining in Lackawanna County is absolutely important. It's where we all started from," said Art Moran, Lackawanna County Director of Parks and Recreation.
The Moffat Coal Breaker operated in Taylor for more than 60 years until it was torn down in 1980. The remaining pieces were moved to a nearby yard and have been there ever since until today.
The borough of Taylor donated the artifacts to Lackawanna County. They're now on display at the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour Site. A display, Art Moran with the Parks and Recreation department says, is an exciting one.
"We're looking forward to getting it up there and preserving a little of the mining history here in Lackawanna County," added Moran.
Former Taylor Borough Manager Dan Zeleniak said the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Borough of Abandoned Mine Reclamation came in about 10 years ago and spent $2 million on property renovation at the Moffat Breaker site to salvage metal artifacts from the rubble.
The Taylor Borough Council thought the artifacts would be a good representation of their history. Despite the weather, crews carefully started relocating what was left of the breaker.
"Finally, the day has come- a lousy day, but the day has come that they're here, and they're going to remove about six of these large pieces and put them up at McDade Park," said Dan Zeleniak, assistant borough manager and chair of the development authority.
Of those pieces, The Menzies Cone was the first to be loaded onto the truck. The heaviest piece was the large coal crusher, weighing more than 2,500 tons.
One of the most interesting artifacts is the concrete pillar. It is the last piece of concrete left from the Moffat Breaker, which was one of the largest breakers in the world at its time and one of the first concrete breakers in the world when most were made of wood.
All the artifacts will be placed on concrete slabs that were put on the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour Site last spring.
"You know, we had 25,000 people come through there last year, so there will be a new attraction for them this year," said Zeleniak.
A new attraction with an old tale to tell about the days of coal mining.