Black Diamond referred to those dark and shiny chunks of coal which led to the town’s founding in 1882. Eighty years later a group of Lions Club volunteers, most of whom were once coal miners created the iconic wooden coal car located in a small, triangular park at the intersection of Highway 169 and Roberts Drive. The original from 1962 was donated by the Ed Johnson Coal Company and painted white with black lettering. The land upon which Miner’s Memorial Coal Park now sits was donated to Black Diamond in 1975 by Palmer Coking Coal (PCC).
At some point the coal car colors were reversed as seen in this October 1982 photo of the wooden mine car filled with lumps of coal. It was taken just after the 100th anniversary marking Black Diamond’s centennial. However in May 1990, a trailer from an asphalt truck smashed into this coal car. Historical Society members including Ted Barner, Donald Botts, Bob Burdick, Bob Eaton, Martin Moore, Al Shay, and Carl Steiert rebuilt the splintered wreck from scratch using treated lumber so it would last longer. A wheeler loader from PCC moved the car from the museum and positioned it back in place. Yet, the current coal car may once again need to be moved as traffic improvement plans call for a new roundabout to replace the awkward triangular intersection. Whether the treasured coal car is placed in the middle of the future roundabout or on adjacent property set aside for stormwater treatment and historical interpretation is still to be decided
