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Helping to prepare the new Broad Top Area Coal Miners Museum at Robertsdale for its grand reopening Aug. 13-14 are, from the left, historical society members Gary Kuklo Sr., Earl Carroll, Judy Williams and Larry Williams. The museum focuses on the history of steam railroading, ironmaking and coal mining on the tri-county Broad Top.

Helping to prepare the new Broad Top Area Coal Miners Museum at Robertsdale for its grand reopening Aug. 13-14 are, from the left, historical society members Gary Kuklo Sr., Earl Carroll, Judy Williams and Larry Williams. The museum focuses on the history of steam railroading, ironmaking and coal mining on the tri-county Broad Top.

The long-awaited reopening of the Broad Top Area Coal Miners Museum at Robertsdale has been scheduled for Aug. 13-14, museum officials have announced.

Located at 704 Main St. in the former Reality Theatre, the multi-purpose museum focuses on the history of coalmining, steam railroading and ironmaking in the corners of Huntingdon, Bedford and Fulton counties. The gala reopening marks the conclusion of an eight-month restoration project.

The relocation of the museum was necessary due to the need for more visibility and in preparation for ongoing restoration work at the East Broad Top Railroad which railfans hope will one day result in the reopening of the EBT to the Robertsdale/Wood area. Already, the Friends of the EBT operates a museum complex along the partially restored narrow gauge tracks just a block away from the Coal Miners Museum.

Established in 1990, the Broad Top Area Coal Miners Historical Society originally operated the museum in the theatre but moved to the former Robertsdale United Methodist Church (UMC) in 2007, while continuing fundraising activities in the cinema. The society, which owns both buildings, leased the theatre to the new Reality Church of God which held services in the theatre before relocated to the Robertsdale UMC structure earlier this year.

After completing the movement of museum equipment from the UMC back to the theatre late last year, intense rehabilitation of the theatre was launched including new lighting, heating and cosmetic work. Much of the project involved the removal of most of the original theatre seats, the erection of portable partitions that separate the various museum displays and improvements to the Reality Theatre marque.

The historical society received some assistance with the relocation project from the Sons of the American Legion of the Watson Black American Legion post, Broad Top City. The Tussey Mountain High School Art Department graciously assisted with the creation of several pieces of artwork that was installed in the museum earlier this year.

The historical society also received badly needed financial contributions from several sources which will be formally recognized later this year. The society continues to solicit donations from the public since there has been no income thus far in 2022, because of the restoration project.

In preparation for the reopening of the museum the weekend of Aug. 13-14 (being coordinated with the annual Robertsdale Community & Heritage Days), the historical society has ordered new brochures which will be available in time for the celebration.

Although the museum will be open both Saturday and Sunday for the upcoming community observance, plans call for the museum to be open Saturdays only to correspond with the FEBT Museum schedule. The new hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (The museum will be available for group tours year-around. Telephone 814-907-1788 for details.) Cost of museum admission is $5 for adults and $3 for youngsers 12 and under.

The new museum layout follows the history of the Broad Top Coal Field beginning with the American Revolution, followed by the chartering of the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad (H&BT) in 1852 and the opening of the EBT to Robertsdale in 1874.

The displays also focus on the many mining and railroading towns, miners’ families, the labor movement and miners’ strikes, churches, baseball (every town had a ball team), local schools, histories of the area cinemas including original movie theatre equipment on display in the Reality Theatre’s projection booth and a new research library.

Also created in the museum is a gift shop and ticket box office as well as a special travel promotion display that focuses on tourist attractions in and around the “Land of the Raystown.” Restrooms are also available.

Another relic of the age of motion pictures has been saved for audio/visual presentations: the large Reality Theatre CinemaScope movie screen. The historical society also created a boardroom that includes several rows of the original theatre seats.

Several Memorial plaques were installed in the museum which pays tribute to the miners of the Broad Top area along with several albums that contain helpful information and obituaries of some of the miners.

In recognition of the miners’ contribution to the war effort (World War I through the Middle East conflicts and wars), a special military display has been created at the front of the museum.

Ron can be reached at dnews@huntingdondailynews.com.

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