100-year-old coal miner’s hat stolen from museum and thrown away may be lost to time

HELPER, Utah ( ABC4 ) — A 100-year-old miner’s hat that was stolen from the Helper Mining and Railroad Museum may be lost to time after it was accidentally thrown away.

The Helper City Police Department was notified that the hat was stolen from the museum around Aug. 31. Detectives said they were unable to find any evidence pointing toward a suspect in the theft in their original investigation, prompting a request from the public.

“Information from citizens of the Carbon County area brought information to our attention regarding a juvenile who had stolen the hat from the museum along with a mining headlamp,” said Helper City Chief of Police Sean Draper.

Detectives made contact with the juvenile and their parents and discovered they had stolen the hat and headlamp earlier in the month. The juvenile’s parent discovered the item was stolen but did not know where from and discarded several items into the garbage about two or three weeks before being confronted by police.

The parent reportedly did not know the hat was stolen from the museum until information about the theft was released to the public.

“Due to the item being thrown in the trash approximately two weeks prior, the item has not been recovered,” said Draper.

The Wattis Mine reportedly began operations in 1916 deep in the heart of central Utah. By 1918, the mine began making coal shipments using the new rail line built by Utah Railway. The mine reportedly remained in operation until 1964 when it was mined out by then-current mining methods, according to Utah Rails . Mining operations resumed in 1967 under new ownership and was later renamed Star Point Mine.

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