Featured Grant Recipient:

Pocahontas Exhibition Mine & Museum

The Foundation assisted the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine & Museum with its re-roofing project this year with a grant of $1,500 from the Unrestricted Fund. The Mine & Museum is housed in a building originally constructed in 1903 and used as a powerhouse for both the Pocahontas #3 coal mine and the Town of Pocahontas.

In the 40s or 50s the then-owner, Consolidated Coal Company, converted the building into a warehouse, and after CONSOL donated the property to the Town in 1998, it was developed into a museum, gift shop, and educational facility.

The Mine & Museum also includes the original bath house, and a Coal Heritage Kitchen. The Museum showcases the rich cultural history of the renowned Pocahontas Coalfields, which produced 44 million tons of high quality coal from 1882 when the mine opened until it closed in 1955. The coal from Pocahontas was widely used, and was the chosen fuel of the U.S. Navy. The roofing project replaces a leaky roof that is nearly 30 years old, and also the roof over the mine entrance, which had collapsed.

The Mine & Museum is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark, the only site of its kind to be so designated. During the annual tourist season from April to September, the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine & Museum attracts approximately 6,000 visitors, and its operation is self-supporting.

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