CAMBRIA NO. 1 / SUNSHINE MINE (COALPORT, PENNSYLVANIA)

At the edge of Coalport borough, a coal mine and town, known locally as the Sunshine mine, were opened by Helman-Edelblute & Co. in 1901-02. By 1915, Cambria Smokeless Coal Co. was operating the mine. By 1926, the mine was owned by Imperial Coal Corporation. The mine was then known as its Cambria No. 1 mine, even though the portal and tipple were in Clearfield County. Imperial closed the mine in 1953, but the mine was later leased to a small operator for a few years. Cambria No. 1 was in the Lower Kittanning, or "B," seam.

December 2021 image by author The coal company located its company store on Coalport's main thoroughfare.
December 2021 image by author Profile of one of the coal company houses. Note the rusty door to the coal cellar.
December 2021 image by author The small one-story building next to the company houses was the Cambria No. 1 mine office.
December 2021 image by author Another, closer look at the hipped-roof mine office.
December 2021 image by author This structure was once the mine's motor barn.
December 2021 image by author Sunshine mine's sand house.
December 2021 image by author "Today Safety First" was painted by one of the coal companies on the side of the sand house.
December 2021 image by author Remaining portion of the stream enclosure built by the coal company.
December 2021 image by author Slate dump, replete with red dog, from this coal mine.
December 2021 image by author Foundations from the coal mining complex can still be found in the woods at the edge of Coalport.
December 2021 image by author Right in front of a few company houses is the Coalport Area Coal Museum.
December 2021 image by author My three tour guides at the museum.
December 2021 image by author A very small portion of the museum's artifacts. They also have a reference room that is well stocked with books relating to local and coal mining history.
December 2021 image by author

Sources:

Interview with John Kucharcik, December 5, 2021.

Report of the Bureau of Mines of the Department of Internal Affairs of Pennsylvania. Wm. Stanley Ray, 1902.

Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania, Part II—Bituminous 1915. Wm. Stanley Ray, State Printer, 1916.

Sisler, James D. Bituminous Coal Fields of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 1926.