Kansas Mining Tour

2026 Mining History Association

Weir-Pittsburg Coalfield Tour
Tour Leaders, Larry Spahn and Staff Members of Museums

Pittsburg, West Mineral, Franklin, and Frontenac, Kansas
May 28, 2026, 8:00AM to 5:00PM

PHOTO GALLERY 4

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Miners Hall Museum and Dragline Project
The Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, Kansas, on the site of an earlier union hall. It will also have a future display of a Page 618 Walking Dragline.	The two main beams of the Page 618 Walking Dragline have already been relocated to the outdoor exhibit site. This is a massive project for a small museum.
(Above) Phyllis Bitner welcomes the MHAers to the future home of the Page 618 Walking Dragline along US 69, the Jefferson Highway which stretches from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to New Orleans, Louisiana. (Right) The massive main beam of the dragline can be seen behind Phyllis. A smaller beam and dragline bucket are also already on the site.
Photos show the Page 618 Dragline at its last operating location in a coal strip mine.	The Wilkenson Coal Company donated the Page 618 Dragline which is in the process of being moved to its final location along the Jefferson Highway.
The story of dragline inventor, John William Page.	Page draglines at work in the Florida Phosphate Belt (Top) and the Wyoming Powder River Basin Coal Mines (Bottom).
Inside the museum, the mural, Spirit of the Little Balkans, captures the stories of life and times of the mostly immigrant coal miners and others who struggled to improve the health, safety, pay, and living conditions in the coal field. Click Here for a Legend that tells who is who.
The MHAers pose for a photo in front of the Spirit of the Little Balkans mural.