Sierra Silver Mine
The Sierra Silver Mine just north of Wallace, Idaho, while a poor silver producer finds new life as an educational hotspot where tourists learn the history of Idaho’s richest mining district, view demonstrations of hard-rock mining, and see samples of regional ore.
The Borax Museum
The Borax Museum is a relatively small collection of mining artifacts, borax products, and local history housed in one of the oldest structures in Death Valley National Park. Along with displays of picks, pans, soap flakes, and arrow heads is an outdoor collection of mining and other industrial equipment used across Death Valley at the turn of the century.
Keane Wonder Mine
Nestled on the steep Chloride Cliffs of the Funeral Mountains is one of the most successful mines in present day Death Valley National Park. The Keane Wonder Mine operated in the early 1900s, during the Death Valley mining boom. Nearly $1 million in gold were yielded between its discovery and closing in 1912. Yet the mine remains a popular attraction in the National Park.
Gilman, Colorado
Gilman, Colorado is a ghost town perched on a 600-foot cliff over the Eagle River. Today, the colorful but graffiti covered housing and Eagle Mine operation stand empty along the slopes of Battle Mountain. Yet, in the 1880s, Gilman was counted among the notable Colorado Silver boomtowns. A Brief History of Gilman, Colorado Within the…
Everett J. Ritchie Tri-State Mineral Museum
The Tri-State Mineral Museum may be small but it is a beautifully curated wing of the Joplin Museum Complex in Joplin, Missouri. The museum collection highlights minerals, mining equipment, and the mining history in the Joplin area’s Tri-State Mining District from the 1870s through the 1960s.
Bayard Mining Park
On the corner of Central Avenue and Poplar Street in downtown Bayard, New Mexico, the Bayard Mining Park commemorates Grant County miners with a collection of mining equipment and educational plaques. While the park does not warrant a trip in and of itself, the park, like a fine wine, is paired nicely with a trip…
Pinos Altos Museum
Pinos Altos may not be the easiest town to locate today, but in it’s day, it was a hub for ranching an mining.
Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum
Located in the original Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company headquarters in the center of Bisbee, the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum preserves the legacy of the “The Queen of the Copper Camps.”
University Of Arizona Mineral Museum
In the basement of the Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium in Tuscon, Arizona is the University of Arizona Mineral Museum. While the footprint of the museum may be small, it contains a core collection of over 35,000 mineral specimens and a micromount collection with over 7,000 additional specimens of crystals too small to appreciate with the naked eye. The collection spans 1,561 different species and 2,000 types of minerals.
Bodie State Historic Park: A Gold Mining Icon In Arrested Decay
Tucked away in the Eastern Sierras of California, Bodie is a gold-mining ghost town preserved in a state of arrested decay. Yet, in its hey day, Bodie hosted one of the richest gold strikes in California with a peak population of nearly 10,000 people. Gold and silver extracted from the Bodie Hills totaled in the millions.