Coolspring Power Museum's origins go back to the early 1950s and the efforts of two collectors: John Wilcox and Paul Harvey. As their collections grew, significant pieces were gathered in a series of buildings in Coolspring, Pennsylvania.
Through the years, and with the help and encouragement of many other individuals, this became the Coolspring Power Museum. Some engines represent real engineering progress; others are more the product of inventive minds avoiding previous patents, but all tell a story. There are a few duplications in the collection, and only a couple of manufacturers are represented by more than one or two examples.
The Coolspring Power Museum contains the most extensive collection of historically significant, early internal combustion engines in the country, if not the world. Except for a few items in the collection driven by the engines, such as compressors, pumps, and generators, and a few steam and hot air engines shown for comparison purposes, the collection contains only internal combustion engines.
The collection has only a few marine, automotive, and farm engines, and the Museum does not plan to expand its focus into those areas. Most of the Museum's acquisition efforts (involving substantial expenditure of funds and volunteer time) have been focused on collecting important large stationary engines.