Backyard Adventures

BACKYARD ADVENTURES 2017 PIKE PUBLISHING 1B MUSEUM OF THE COAL INDUSTRY The Museum of the Coal Industry in Lynnville pays tribute to a way of life for many in southwest Indiana and the Midwest who lived from the 1880s to 1930s. Men worked long, dirty, hard days digging coal. They lived near their work and often shopped for the things they needed at the company store. The Museum of the Coal Industry located just off of Highway 68 gives its visitors a glimpse of that life. The museum has thousands of items used by those in the coal industry. It is more than just the big machinery on display. However, they do have a collection of big machinery, which includes: a 95 ton train engine visitors can view inside and out; a 50B coal loader, which was the first full-electric piece of equipment used in 1926 to load coal into dinky trains; and a bucket off a Marion 281 shovel. To get the feel for how big, a really big, Big Kate was they have a sign that was taken from the second largest dragline ever built. The sign is about 30' x 8' and nearly covers one end of their main building. Then they show you the picture of Big Kate. The giant sign looks about the size of a Chevrolet insignia on one of their vehicles. It could move 100 cubic yards or nearly 500,000 pounds of dirt in one scoop. But the museum is much more than big equip- ment. They have a Company Store, which re- sembles a 1920s company store containing items that would have been used in the everyday life of a miner and his family. It had old signs that will bring back a lot of memories for miners and their fami- lies. Out front it is labeled Big Four Company Store. It also has old Coca Cola signs and on the side an Altee's Enos Corner. The Company Store sits near the entrance and is a reminder of a past age with its vintage cash register and its shelves stocked with items miners in the 20s or 30s would have found. On the shelves were carbide lanterns and hats to STORY AND PHOTOS BY ANDY HEURING HEURING COAL power OF THE The Big Four Company Store is one of the favorite exhibits at the Coal Museum. CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE >

• Cover