1917 - Miners Institute Building - Collinsville, Illinois - Dated Buildings and Cornerstones on Waymarking.com

The Miner's Institute is associated with the city's first most important industry mining. The first coal mine was suck here in 1857. The town grew with the industry and by 1886 a man could walk underground through connecting tunnels between the mines from one edge of the city limits to the other. Mining and Collinsville were almost synonymous terms. In 1916, a representative of the United Mine Workers of America Local 264, convinced fellow miners that a union hall and public theater should be built. The structure was multi-purposed. The theater brought entertainment to the city of a class not usually seen in cities of this size. The second and third floors gave a permanent home for the union offices and provided a central meeting place for the mining locals. These floors were also used by various community groups for social activities and housed a small library which was the beginning of the present day Collinsville Memorial Public Library. The cost of the building was shared by a loan from the state U.M.W.A. and the Collinsville union locals. The locals voted a one percent assessment on each member to proved the sum required for their part. On December 28, 1918, at a cost of $138,993.26, the building was opened to the public. The opening ceremonies and parade were well attended by not only the miners locals, but by hundreds of otehr residents.

The Miner's Theater continued to prosper but the mines did not. By 1930 the coal mines had slowly started to close. Restlessness led Collinsville union locals become members of the Progressive Mine Workers. Since the loans to the U.M.W.A. had long been paid off, the Collinsville Miners owned the building and thus title was transferred to the PMW. In 1969 it was sold to Bloomer Amusement Co." - National Register Nomination

The building houses a couple of retail businesses and a theater and is in good condition.

Year of construction: 1917 Cross-listed waymark: [Web Link] Full inscription: Erected By The Local Miners Unions No-685-264-848 U.M.W. of A. Laid By President Frank Farrington October 12, 1917 Robert G. Kirsch Architect

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