Mahanoy Area Historical Society
1West Center Street#5
Mahanoy City, PA 17948
(570) 773-1295
https://www.mahanoyhistory.org/
https://www.facebook.com/p/Mahanoy-Area-Historical-Society-100063570881125/
Open: Sunday-Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Friday 12:00pm-3:00pm/Saturday Closed
Admission: Free but donations are accepted
My review on TripAdvisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/mediabatch/13476787?m=19905
The front of the Mahanoy Area Historical Society at 1 West Centre Street#5 in Mahanoy City, PA
(from the museum website)
The museum is located on the first floor of the James J. Rhoades Downtown Center at the corner of Main and Centre Streets in Mahanoy City.
A representation of the Coal Mining Industry in Mahanoy City
The inside of this interesting museum
The Mission of the Museum:
(From the museum pamphlet):
To preserve and protect the history of the Mahanoy Area and to work toward the restoration, revitalization and future of the community.
A glimpse into the areas contributions to the Mining industry
I took time on my visit to Mahanoy City, PA to visit the Mahanoy Area Historical Society and discovered an interesting little museum that tells the story of this small city, whose roots and founding are around the local mines. The displays show a tight knit and proud community even in the changes in the economy and the status of the mines.
There is a lot of memorabilia on the contributions of local residents to our armed forces
The pride of the community to our country
The characters of the movers and shakers of the community in The Mahanoy City Social Club, who once dominated the business scene in town.
The display of the Kaier Brewery, once a dominate business in town until the late 1960’s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_D._Kaier_Company
https://www.thebeerprofessor.com/?tag=kaiers-beer
The knocking down of the old Brewery Building:
The former Kaier Mansion is right down the road from the old brewery is now a B & B
Review on TripAdvisor:
The plaque on the old mansion down the road from the museum
The history of the Kaier Brewery family in the area
The local businesses in the downtown and the bottling plants that once dominated the area for beverages produced around Mahanoy City.
There were many individual bottlers in the area
The many companies that dominated the area
New York and Hollywood have their roots in the community too with the Dorsey Brothers, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey raised around both here and Shenandoah.
The historical marker in Shenandoah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Dorsey
The other being Victor Schertzinger, who was a director and composer, who won the Academy Award for best original music for the film ‘One Night of Love’.
The marker near the Historical Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Schertzinger
The Clip from “One Night of Love”
His Oscar was donated to the museum by his family
A big part of the museum is the collection from the Mahanoy City and the Mahanoy Township school systems. There is a big history of sports and with school pride in this area.
The display of school memorabilia at the museum
The high school memorabilia from Mahanoy City schools
High School memoribilia
High school pride
School uniforms and clothing
Awards, plaques and yearbooks
The school and local band equipment
The para-Military is prominent in the collection with many families donating their family items. Items from the Police and Fire departments are prominently on display.
Display cases of local items
Civic items in the collection
More historical items from around the community
Local artifacts from the community
There were many businesses that were created in the area when innovation and technology were changing between the wars.
The clothing and beauty industries were founded and thriving businesses in the community.
Items from the mining industry are prominently displayed in the front of the museum.
The front of the museum
The museum shows the creation, growth and pride in this and the surrounding communities. Innovation and creation were once prominent in Mahanoy City now waiting for another generation to discover it and keep this tradition alive.
The Church community
After the visit to the museum, I walked around the downtown to see the before and after effects of the mines and the industries that have closed down over the years.
Downtown Mahanoy City, PA
While it does look depressed in some ways, you can still the spark of a community that needs to be discovered again. Somewhere buried in this community is the next new business or innovative idea that will once again showcase it again. There is a lot of pride still here and it shows in the history in this museum.
Exploring the downtown area
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 