F. Nelson Blount
Encyclopedia
F. Nelson Blount was president and founder of Blount Seafood Corporation, and as a millionaire
collector of vintage steam locomotive
s and rail cars, he founded Steamtown, USA
, which was operated by the non-profit corporation, the Steamtown Foundation. Steamtown was a steam train museum that ran steam locomotive excursions out of Bellows Falls, Vermont
, from the 1960s to 1984. Because of air quality regulations in Vermont
, the collection was relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania
, in the mid 1980s. The Steamtown Foundation declared bankruptcy in the early 1990s and was acquired by the National Park Service
. Some of Blount's collection is still on display at what is now Steamtown National Historic Site
. Blount died at the age of 49 on August 31, 1967 in a small aircraft
accident.
industry since the 1880s. After a 1938 hurricane devastated the oyster
business in Narragansett Bay
in Rhode Island
, Blount helped introduce the bay quahog (a hard-shell clam
) as a source of protein
during the Second World War. In 1946, he consolidated several smaller shellfish firms to found Blount Seafood Corporation, which provided chopped clams to soup manufacturers throughout the United States
, including Campbell Soup. His family still owns and controls the company.
in South Carver, Massachusetts
, in the mid-1950s. The Edaville Railroad had narrow gauge engines from Maine
, but Blount soon began acquiring standard gauge
steam locomotives and cars, in part to save a vanishing technological heritage. Some locomotives were initially displayed at 'Engine City', a part of Pleasure Island
amusement park
near Wakefield, Massachusetts
. Space constraints soon forced Blount to look for a new home for his collection, and in 1959 he purchased an engine house and railroad yard from the Boston and Maine Railroad
in North Walpole, New Hampshire
, with equipment arriving there in late 1960. Blount called his collection and museum 'Steamtown', and the first train ran in 1961. Problems with leasing railroad track and federal regulators led to Steamtown trains running out of Keene, New Hampshire
, in 1962. Promised support for Steamtown from the state of New Hampshire
never materialized, leading to yet another switch, back to North Walpole, in 1963. This was the first year the collection was open to the public (as opposed to just train rides), and soon the North Walpole site was seen to be too small for the many visitors who came.
In 1964, Steamtown began the move to Bellows Falls, Vermont
, to a site recently abandoned by the Rutland Railroad
. Work was more or less complete there by 1966, but the next summer Blount died in an aircraft crash. Without his funds, Steamtown fell on hard times, and the harsh winters helped speed deterioration of much of the collection. It moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania
, in 1984 but did not do well there either. In 1986, the federal government stepped in and established the Steamtown National Historic Site
, which officially opened in 1995.
, homestead and its surrounding farm buildings, pastures, and forest in 1964 to a group of committed Christian educators, headed by Mel Moody, who worked together to develop Staghead Farm (as it was then called) into Dublin Christian Academy
, a combined elementary school and secondary boarding school.
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
collector of vintage steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s and rail cars, he founded Steamtown, USA
Steamtown, USA
Steamtown, USA was a steam locomotive museum that ran steam excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s to 1983. Founded by millionaire seafood industrialist F. Nelson Blount, Steamtown was operated primarily by the non-profit Steamtown Foundation...
, which was operated by the non-profit corporation, the Steamtown Foundation. Steamtown was a steam train museum that ran steam locomotive excursions out of Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,165 at the 2000 census...
, from the 1960s to 1984. Because of air quality regulations in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, the collection was relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
, in the mid 1980s. The Steamtown Foundation declared bankruptcy in the early 1990s and was acquired by the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. Some of Blount's collection is still on display at what is now Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad . The museum is built around a working replica turntable and a roundhouse that is...
. Blount died at the age of 49 on August 31, 1967 in a small aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
accident.
Biography
Blount's family was involved in the shellfishShellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
industry since the 1880s. After a 1938 hurricane devastated the oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
business in Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 , the Bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago...
in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, Blount helped introduce the bay quahog (a hard-shell clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
) as a source of protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
during the Second World War. In 1946, he consolidated several smaller shellfish firms to found Blount Seafood Corporation, which provided chopped clams to soup manufacturers throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including Campbell Soup. His family still owns and controls the company.
Railroads
Blount used some of the money he made in the seafood industry to purchase the narrow gauge Edaville RailroadEdaville Railroad
The Edaville Railroad is a heritage railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts.Opened in 1947, the Edaville Railroad is generally regarded as one of the oldest heritage railroads in the United States....
in South Carver, Massachusetts
South Carver, Massachusetts
South Carver is a village in the town of Carver, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States.South Carver is the location of the main entrance to the Myles Standish State Forest and also home to the Edaville Railroad. The growing and processing of cranberries is the predominant activities in...
, in the mid-1950s. The Edaville Railroad had narrow gauge engines from Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, but Blount soon began acquiring standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
steam locomotives and cars, in part to save a vanishing technological heritage. Some locomotives were initially displayed at 'Engine City', a part of Pleasure Island
Pleasure Island (Massachusetts amusement park)
Pleasure Island was an amusement park located in Wakefield, Massachusetts. The park, billed as the "Disneyland of the Northeast", was in business from 1959 to 1969...
amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
near Wakefield, Massachusetts
Wakefield, Massachusetts
-History:-Geography:The diagram above shows what is to the east, west, north, south, and other directions of the center of Wakefield. Towns with population above 25,000 are in bold italics.-Demographics:-Notable residents:...
. Space constraints soon forced Blount to look for a new home for his collection, and in 1959 he purchased an engine house and railroad yard from the Boston and Maine Railroad
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century...
in North Walpole, New Hampshire
North Walpole, New Hampshire
North Walpole is a census-designated place in the town of Walpole in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. It had a population of 828 at the 2010 census....
, with equipment arriving there in late 1960. Blount called his collection and museum 'Steamtown', and the first train ran in 1961. Problems with leasing railroad track and federal regulators led to Steamtown trains running out of Keene, New Hampshire
Keene, New Hampshire
Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,409 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Cheshire County.Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest...
, in 1962. Promised support for Steamtown from the state of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
never materialized, leading to yet another switch, back to North Walpole, in 1963. This was the first year the collection was open to the public (as opposed to just train rides), and soon the North Walpole site was seen to be too small for the many visitors who came.
In 1964, Steamtown began the move to Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,165 at the 2000 census...
, to a site recently abandoned by the Rutland Railroad
Rutland Railroad
The Rutland Railway was a small railroad in the northeastern United States, primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York. The earliest ancestor of the Rutland, the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, was chartered in 1843 by the state of Vermont to build between Rutland...
. Work was more or less complete there by 1966, but the next summer Blount died in an aircraft crash. Without his funds, Steamtown fell on hard times, and the harsh winters helped speed deterioration of much of the collection. It moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
, in 1984 but did not do well there either. In 1986, the federal government stepped in and established the Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad . The museum is built around a working replica turntable and a roundhouse that is...
, which officially opened in 1995.
Religion
In the 1960s, Blount became a devoted evangelical Christian. A biography which focuses heavily on his spiritual life entitled The Man from Steamtown was written by James R. Adair in 1967. Blount sought to preserve an evangelical Christian legacy by donating his Dublin, New HampshireDublin, New Hampshire
Dublin is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,597 at the 2010 census. It is home to both the Dublin School and Yankee Magazine.-History:...
, homestead and its surrounding farm buildings, pastures, and forest in 1964 to a group of committed Christian educators, headed by Mel Moody, who worked together to develop Staghead Farm (as it was then called) into Dublin Christian Academy
Dublin Christian Academy
Dublin Christian Academy is a private Christian school located in Dublin, New Hampshire. Founded in 1964, the school serves students in kindergarten through 12th grade and is the only Christian boarding school for high school students in New England.-History:...
, a combined elementary school and secondary boarding school.