Nesquehoning celebrated its heritage on Saturday jointly with a salute to America’s 250th anniversary.

The highlight of the day was a visit to the borough by the largest steam locomotive in the nation.

In addition, there was an America250 Nesquehoning202 parade held as well as a festival, which featured food trucks, kid rides, vendors, games and free musical entertainment.

Other highlights included a spectacular fireworks display, a coal shoveling contest and an arm-wrestling competition judged by former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Gene Snisky, a former Nesquehoning resident.

The Nesquehoning Historical Society had an elaborate float in the parade that was divided into two parts, one honoring the Lenni Lenape Native American tribe and the other paying tribute to the coal mining industry.

Historical groups from Lansford and Weatherly also had floats, as did several organizations.

The parade was led by the Nesquehoning Police Department, a color guard of the Nesquehoning VFW, and a wagon, pulled by two Clydesdale horses, in which were the grand marshals.

The marshals were Nesquehoning’s oldest living residents, John Glovatsky, 92, and Mary Stockmal, 102.

The impressive Philadelphia Fife and Drum Corps also were part of the procession.

Several characters dressed in colonial America attire marched, as well as two individuals on stilts.

More than a dozen pieces of fire apparatus were featured.

Several local organizations had stands at the festival, including the Nesquehoning Fire Department.

The Historical Society had a stand which sold commemorative T-shirts and other souvenirs.

The widely respected Cressona Band kicked off festivities with a concert on Friday.

Nesquehoning celebrated its 202 anniversary highlighting its long-standing heritage as a coal mining community. It was officially incorporated as a borough in 1963.