When asked to identify an institution that holds significance for a cultural or ethnic group, people would most likely identify a church or place of worship. Those people fail to realize that a train museum can hold the same importance for a cultural group. The Steamtown National Historical Site, located on Lackawanna Ave at Cliff St in Scranton, PA, houses a collection of antique steam trains that draws in railfans from miles away. Anything and everything can have a special meaning for a cultural or ethnic group, even a national park for railroads and trains. For people who truly appreciate and enjoy learning about and seeing vintage locomotives, the Steamtown National Historic Site is a place that can/does mean as much to them as a place of worship might to a…show more content… During the 1950’s and 1960s, New Englander F. Nelson Blount began assembling his collection of vintage locomotives— “Steamtown, USA”— after the closing of the Rutland Railroad. These locomotives would later become part of the collection found at the Steamtown NHP when the Steamtown Foundation for the Preservation of Steam and Railroad Americana, Inc. moved the trains to Scranton (“History & Culture”). Then in 1983, Scranton staked claim of the collection and raised the money to move 40 steam engines and 60 cars to the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) site. After a few years, the site became a National Historic Site in 1983. The Steamtown National Historic Site, which spans over 40 acres, finally opened to the public in June, 1995 after “ten years, and $66 million” ("The Steamtown National Historic Site"). The museum offers vast history of the items in the collection and of the history of railroads in America. Today, hundreds of thousands of people visit the Steamtown National Historic Site and its vast collection of vintage trains
