Tour-Ed Mine and Museum

When my husband and I were driving toward this business, we saw no other cars or people, so my husband mentioned that we could turn around and go home. I insisted that we keep driving, and I am glad that we did. When we reached the entrance, we saw two employees sitting outside. They greeted us, and they began our tour immediately. We toured a museum of antiques. Then we sat in a room for a brief educational lecture about mining. My favorite part was riding down and up 0.5 miles in the coalmine. I also enjoyed seeing what an underground mine looks like and how the equipment and machinery function, and I appreciated the hard work that miners did decades ago and do today. The grounds also have an old train and historical houses on them.

This place is really interesting. We were fortunate enough to get some tickets from a friend and we had a great time here. The tour guides are retired miners and really knew their stuff. It was fascinating to get a tour through history of the different mining techniques used from the 1800’s to the present. It was also interesting to see the mining equipment turned on. What a noise!
We had 2 small kids with us, so I’m not sure that we got the full immersion experience; nevertheless, they showed us the very clever cone-​and-​rope escape system for when the lights go out.
The museum above-​ground is worth some exploration. Lots of artifacts from the time and the guides/​miners were more than willing to answer all of our questions.
Given that we still get a large percentage of our energy from coal in this country, every person should visit exhibits like this to understand the risks and efforts that it takes to allow all of us to flip a switch and have the lights come on. Something that we all take for granted way too often.

Ever wanted to see a coal mine? Here’s your chance. This is a great activity to take grade school and up children. Heck I was in college and I still found it fascinating since I am the granddaughter of a coal miner. I never met him; he died in a mine before I was born.
The very beginning when you walk in the antiquated dusty gift shop to get yoru ticket makes you wonder if you want to go on this little excursion into a coal mine. You do. Just get past the dusty and creepiness. And don’t buy any candy that is as antique as the coal equipment you’re looking at. Creepy gift shop is why I am detracting a star. The tour itself is awesome and five stars.
The owner was also our tour guide. Wear Jeans! and good solid close toed shoes/​boots with tread. No cowboy boots. You will be given a hard hat. After a brief talk, you slide into a covered, low slung, underground train and begin your descent into the mine.
You’ll get out of the underground coal miner train and learn quite a lot about how a coal mine works. Watch your head, You’ll have to walk hunched over through a few places. Of course the annoying yuppie soccer mom who kept squealing when water dripped on her plowed her head into the ceiling while taking more pictures of her kids. It was nice to be able to go behind a ceiling beam and snicker at her in the dark.
Overall, Its a great learning experience. less than an hour from Pittsburgh.