F. Nelson Blount

F. Nelson Blount (1918-1967) was president and founder of Blount Seafood Corporation. He was a millionaire and a collector of vintage steam locomotives 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 mid 1980s 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.