Brooks Drift Mine

Brooks Model Coal Mine


Useful Information

Location: Nay Aug Park, Scranton, PA 18510.
(41.400615, -75.643290)
Open: not yet open.
[2023]
Fee: not yet open.
[2023]
Classification: MineCoal Mine, SubterraneaMining Museum
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: L=135 m.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Brooks Drift Mine, Scranton, PA 18510.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1900 tunnel built by Reese Brooks.
1902 opened as a "model mine" or show mine.
1975 closed after the Lackawanna mine tours opened.
2022 start of reopening works by the Underground Miners.
2023 scheduled reopening.

Geology

In this area a fault brings the Dunmore no. 2 and 3 Veins together at the surface.

Description

Brooks Drift Mine or Brooks Model Coal Mine is actually not a mine, it's a model of a mine, which was built in 1902 by Reese Brooks, hence the name. It was one of the first show mines in the country. Reese J. Brooks was superintendent of the Capouse Mine of the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Co. In 1900 he was the operator of the Greenwood Mine in the Minooka–Moosic area. He employed several colliery miners to excavate the drift, which was a part of the Nay Aug Park development. Its unclear if they were aware that they would reach the Dunmore no. 2 and 3 Veins. However, this means that the mine actually contains two coal seams.

The show mine was closed in 1938, until in 1953 it received a major upgrade and was reopened. The Moffat coal company retimbered the tunnel, the Scranton Police Traffic Repair Squad upgraded the electric lighting, and mannequins were installed simulating miners working at the face. Inside and outside the mine an electric mine locomotive and numerous mine cars were added as an exhibit. The cars were even filled with coal, 5 tons of coal were brought in from Moffat for this purpose. In 1969 the mine was once again retimbered.

But it was closed in 1975 after the Lackawanna mine tours opened nearby. The mannequins, electric mine locomotive and mine cars were moved to the Lackawanna mine in the early 1980s where they can still be seen. It was gated with iron bar doors, but in the early 2000s a wooden seal was added which blocked the view.

The non-profit group Underground Miners is currently working on reopening the mine as a show mine. They replaced the timber support to make the mine tunnel safe and are now working on cleaning the mine up. The tunnel is not yet open, but people already come to the site on weekends when the Underground Miners are at work.