The No. 9 Coal Mine and Museum, which gives visitors a glimpse of life working in the depths of an anthracite mine, opens for the 2023 season on Saturday with some enhancements.

The mine, just off Dock Street in Lansford, operated from 1855 to 1972, making it the oldest continuous operating deep anthracite mine in the world, according to the United Mine Workers of America.

The No. 9 mine was abandoned in June of 1972, until the non-profit Panther Creek Valley Foundation stepped in in the early 1990s to preserve the mine as an integral part of the area’s coaling mining heritage.

The mine, which opened for public tours in 2002, boasts visitors from 38 countries, said Zach Petroski, foundation president.

The No. 9 mine and museum didn’t stand dormant during its off-season, as volunteers worked on numerous improvements and continuing preservation efforts, he said.

The attraction, which saw more than 12,000 visitors last year, benefited from a $100,000 Local Share Account, or gaming, grant.

The grant allowed the non-profit to do roof repairs to the 1912 “Wash Shanty” building, which houses the museum, as well to upgrade its main entrance and obtain new batteries for its vintage mine locomotives.

The roof on the pre-World War I building is the original steel-reinforced concrete tile, which looks like terra-cotta tile from a distance. The roof, however, began to leak and repairs and a coating were added, Petroski said.

The grant allowed the foundation to sandblast the roof, redo all of the seams and apply a bonded-rubber coating, he said.

“So it gives it the original appearance,” Petroski said. “The color of this roof was a pinkish cement color. So, we went with red, a very common color for mine buildings. It makes it look as it did.”

The roof now looks more like a red tile roof, instead of a faded-out silver, and more historic to the area, said Dale Freudenberger, secretary.

They also replaced 30-year-old entrance doors that had seen much better days, he said.

“We got a beautiful new entrance with a logo on them,” Freudenberger said of the new frosted glass doors.

The grant also allowed the non-profit to purchase batteries for its seven-ton locomotive, which is used to take visitors into the mine, Petroski said. The large, heavy batteries also provide weight and give the locomotive traction in the wet environment inside the mine, he said.

Another project in the off-season was to extend access into the mine, which will improve drainage and ventilation inside, Petroski said.

They are also working toward a handful of original mine cars that were abandoned inside and are now mired in a wet, quicksand-like silt and mud down a tunnel, he said.

These cars are among eight “survivors” that they hope to free and restore, Petroski said. At one time, Lehigh Coal and Anthracite Co. used hundreds of the mine cars, which were scrapped when the mine closed.

Petroski said they are not opening that area for the public or extending the tour, which stays on a strict, hourly schedule of 11, 12, 1, 2 and 3 o’clock during museum hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Volunteers also spent a great deal of time cleaning after a roof repair and the removal of a drop-ceiling inside the museum, which brought down fine grit from the sandblasting and 100 years of coal dust and lint onto all of the exhibits, Petroski said.

“It was like a cloud in here,” he said. “We did a heavy cleaning.”

Removal of the drop-ceiling allowed them to reveal the original ceiling, as it was when the building was used as the wash shanty for up to 500 miners a day, 250 on each shift.

Petroski, a trained electrician, also began work on the wiring and replacing the vintage green shade light fixtures above, Freudenberger said. The bulbs, however, are energy-efficient LEDs, Petroski said.

The non-profit also added industrial fans to the building, which had no climate control, he said.

“Obviously, that was not a thing at the time. It gets very hot in here in the summer,” Petroski said, noting that fans can push down heat in the winter, and then in the summer, reverse them to pull heat up and out the vents.

“So, it’ll kind of give us a base climate control,” he said.

The additional improvements were funded by donations and money raised from the seasonal tours, in addition to grants and membership in the foundation, Petroski said.

“We’re here to preserve the site, and preserve, promote and educate (visitors) on the history and culture of anthracite mining throughout the region,” Freudenberger said.

The No. 9 Coal Mine and Museum is open Saturday and Sunday this weekend, and Friday and Saturday only the following weekend, which is the Easter holiday.

The museum will open Friday, Saturday and Sunday the rest of the month, and then starting in May, operate on a Wednesday to Sunday schedule.

Additional information can be found the No. 9 Coal Mine’s website and Facebook page.