Explore An Old Lead Mine 50 Feet Below The Surface And Ride This Zinc Train In Wisconsin
Before the gold rush in the United States, people flooded into southwest Wisconsin to dig for a different type of fortune. Miners extracted huge amounts of lead and zinc from the ground, an enterprise that led to the founding of some of Wisconsin’s oldest cities. While the mining boom is long over, many of these old Wisconsin mining towns remain, and there’s a spot where you can not only explore one of these mines, but also ride a historic zinc mining train. The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums complex is a fascinating historic place that’s worth making the drive to Platteville, Wisconsin, to discover. Here’s why.
You'll find the Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums in a Platteville neighborhood that's filled with old homes and businesses. The mining era was decades before cars were invented, so towns grew up very close to these old mines. When you drive through town, you'll see that some of the city streets don't quite line up. In some cases, that's because they were routed around long-gone mines.
Aside from the peculiar street layout, a visitor might be unaware of the city's mining past. The last mines disappeared more than a century ago and now the city is a college town, home to the University of Wisconsin Platteville.
The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums preserves the city's mining past in a very interactive way. Tours take visitors deep into a very old and very authentic lead mine.
The 1845 Bevans Lead-Zinc Mine gives visitors a chance to see what life was like for Wisconsin's early miners. Their world was very dark, and very dirty.
For some, it was also lucrative. This deposit was discovered by a man named Lorenzo Bevans. In one year alone, the mine produced over two million pounds of valuable lead ore.
The tours are very informative. You can learn about the mining process and see how the ore was transported to the surface. Above ground, kids can catch a ride on a 1931 Whitcomb mine train and enjoy a trip around the complex.
Tickets are available now for the tour season, which begins each year in May. Other special events are held by the museum year round. Learn more on the Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums website. While you’re in town, there’s a lot more to explore – the city is an ideal day trip.
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Address: The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums, 405 E Main St, Platteville, WI 53818, USA
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