“I sometimes tell people that the universe has pushed me to Northeastern Pennsylvania for many years and I just didn’t know why.”
Jeremy Komasz, the new Superintendent at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, landed in NEPA via the long road. The retired U.S. Navy SEAL Officer grew up in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, or as we often call it “down the shore.” He was an adventurous and precocious kid – swears he broke more bones than all three of his siblings combined.
He went from high school to the ROTC program in college at George Washington University in D.C. From there, it was directly into the Navy and SEAL training and 9 years of active-duty service (he stayed on as a reserve for another 20). His Navy career and private sector jobs took him from the soft sands of South Jersey to California, Puerto Rico, Virginia Beach, Tampa and, finally Cleveland. It was here that Jeremy began to contemplate his post-service career. Then, a chance meeting and a little bug in the ear led to the idea of parlaying three decades of military service into a gig with the National Parks Service.
He learned that he landed the Superintendent job at Steamtown in late fall of 2024, and he just had to accept the position. Jeremy knew of Scranton. He had never been, but assumed it couldn’t be much different from Cleveland. After making the five-hour drive, he dropped by Steamtown as an unknown plain-clothes visitor. What he saw – rangers engaged with curious children, engineers doing “real” work on 100-year-old engines, industrial age dinosaurs of iron and steel puffing and steaming along the tracks – it was totally unique, he thought. And as he made his way up the foot bridge connecting the site to The Marketplace at Steamtown, he looked back over the rail yard and realized that he needed to be a part of all this. The rest is history in the making, I guess.
We caught up with Superintendent Komasz in his office at Steamtown National Historic Site on a cool, summer morning. He sat still and answered questions for about 20 minutes. And before long, the ever-excited Superintendent had us hoofing it to every corner of the park. Luckily, along the way, we managed to squeeze in a question or two like Why NEPA.
How long have you lived in NEPA?
I have been here for about 10 months and a few weeks.
What do you love about your town?
I love the variety of things to do. So, if you’re a foodie, there are plenty of places to eat. If you’re into nature, there’s plenty of outdoor recreation. If you’re into culture, there are so many cultural things to do, right? You have baseball and hockey and plenty of sports-related things to do. That’s what I really love about NEPA. You can always find something to do. And we’re only about 2 hours from seeing the Phillies or seeing a show in New York City.
What’s your favorite NEPA restaurant?
This is tricky because of my position here, I can’t endorse any particular businesses, but I do want to talk about food. So, I’ll say this. When I first got here, my girlfriend and I were on a mission to try as many NEPA restaurants as we could. She’s a local, so she’s already been to quite a few, but it’s a long list. We’re still working on it.
Now, I’m Italian on my mother’s side and I will say that the Italian food here in NEPA is pretty fantastic. The variety of pizza is amazing. I also love any place that has a creative craft cocktail menu. And I love diners. I grew up in Jersey and diners are a thing there. We’ve got some really great diners here. And the number of small, local bakeries still amazes me. We also love small coffee shops. Give me a new coffee shop and I’m heading there to try it out. It’s really the variety. That’s what’s so great about the food scene here in NEPA.
What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?
I think it’s just being outside. We’re very fortunate here, you know? We have the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail. I spend a lot of time running throughout the area, and I use that trail quite a bit. Obviously, we have so many beautiful places to hike. I’ll admit that’s something I’m really looking forward to exploring more. That and cycling. I’m currently training for a marathon, and once I get that out of my system, I’m looking forward to checking out some of the local rides. I hear the road cycling here is absolutely fantastic. I also love all of the little festivals we have going on here through the summer and fall. We do a lot of work with some of the local festivals.
What’s next for you?
Primarily, I’m working toward putting Steamtown National Historic Site back into the public consciousness through engagement with our community partners, our philanthropic partners and local, state and federal organizations which support the area. So, that is what I think about every single day. This is a gem that we have here. And most people don’t even know that we exist back here. We need to change that. That is goal number one for the entirety of my time here at Steamtown National Historic Site. It’s all about community engagement. And that’s tough work. Although, I did it in Afghanistan, so, I think it should be a little easier here. That would be number one for me – how do we make people aware that this amazing place exists right here in their backyard.
Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?
There are strong roots here. And there’s a lot of promise. So, I’m nothing but optimistic when I see, even in this little microcosm of Scranton, the transitions and the improvements that are being made downtown and all of the businesses moving in and opening up. I see the whole area on an upward trajectory. It’s a place where people from larger cities like Philly and New York City can come to experience something different in our natural beauty and culture and all of the industry we have here.
Why NEPA?
So, as I mentioned, I feel like the universe has been pushing me here since 2021. And I think that the opportunity to help this amazing park move into its next 30-40 years, is just an incredible chance to work with people that love and care about Northeastern Pennsylvania and the history of this place. It’s just an unparalleled opportunity, right? Most of the National parks in this country, people know about. Many of the National Parks Service units, people know of. You say, Gettysburg, people know it. I want people to have the same feeling about Steamtown National Historic Site.
