Shining a Light on Antique Coal Mine Lamps

LEWISBURG, Pa. — When Chris Hacker of Heritage Underground Lighting started exploring caves as a high school hobby in the late 1980s, he never imagined decades later he would amass a museum-like collection of oil wick and carbide coal mining lamps.

“I got into cave exploring in high school, and at that time, carbide lamps were used by a lot of cavers.” Hacker said. “The other cavers that I met were (lamp) collectors, so I started learning about the history of it from them.”