Sumpter Museum And Public Library

The Sumpter Museum is just half a block down from the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area and complements the park with displays of mining in the Sumpter Valley Area. While a relatively small building, the museum is full of donated mining artifacts, mineral specimens, and archival documents. Displays cover hydraulic mining, load mining, and, of course, dredging. A hard rock mining diorama includes an ore cart and assorted mining equipment. A collection of large copies include blueprints of a dredge, granting and architect’s eye view of these massive mining machines.

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Museum of the West

The Museums of Western Colorado are a collection of museums covering history, farming, paleontology, and most importantly, mining in Colorado. The Museum of the West displays the core collection. Along with a stage coach and a replica boomtown bar, the museum sports a replica mine and mining artifacts.

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La Grange Mine

On a pullout from Highway 299 in Trinity County is the largest hydraulic mine in California. Little remains of the operation aside from a monitor and four interpretive displays. Yet, the La Grange Mine looms large in gold mining history.

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DeWitt Museum

The DeWitt Museum is housed in the original 1910 two-story Prairie City Depot building. While much of the museum preserves the historic depot waiting room, station agent’s office, baggage and express room, and freight office, the second floor also houses displays highlighting local history. The collection includes mining artifacts, rocks, minerals, and photographs from the turn of the century.

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Western Mining & Railway Museum

The Western Mining & Railway Museum follows the story of local coal miners from 1880 to 1950. Located in the small town of Helper, Utah, the Western Mining & Railway Museum splits its 3 floor brick structure between commemorating the region’s mining and railroad history. Maps, mining artifacts, and pictures reveal the every-day lives of local coal miners and the town that grew around their work.

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Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area

The Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area is nestled in the scenic Elkhorn Mountain Range. Along with its natural beauty, however, this area is a hub for Oregon mining history. The park is dedicated to educating visitors on gold mining history in the Blue Mountains and preserves one of the largest, most accessible dredges in all of the United States. It is a striking reminder of human ingenuity and large scale mining in the early 1900s.

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Western Museum of Mining and Industry

Western Museum of Mining and Industry 225 North Gate Blvd. Colorado Springs, CO 80921 HoursMonday-Saturday: 9AM – 4PM Admission Adult: $10 Military/AAA: $9 Senior 60+: $8 Student 13+: $8 Children 4-12: $6 Children Under 3: Free Sitting in the northern limits of Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Western Museum of Mining and Industry combines indoor educational…

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Gold at the National Museum of Natural History

The Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum is the third most visited museum in the world. With a quick perusal of the highlights it is easy to understand why. The remarkable gem and mineral collection is world class including 300,000 rock and ore specimens. While we are, only naturally, impressed by the Hope Diamond, a few rooms further…

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