Sterling Hill Mining Museum facts for kids
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Sterling Hill Mining Museum
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 Location in Sussex County, New Jersey
Location in New Jersey
Location in the United States
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| Location | 30 Plant Street, Ogdensburg, New Jersey |
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| Architectural style | Industrial |
| NRHP reference No. | 91001365 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | September 3, 1991 |
The Sterling Hill Mine, now called the Sterling Hill Mining Museum, is a former zinc mine. It is located in Ogdensburg, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. This mine was the last working underground mine in New Jersey.
The mine closed in 1986. It then became a museum in 1989. The Sterling Hill Mine and the nearby Franklin Mine are famous for their many different minerals. They are especially known for minerals that glow under special light. The mine was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Contents
A Look at the Mine's History
Mining at this location started a very long time ago, in the 1630s. At first, people thought they had found copper.
King George III gave the land to William Alexander. He was also known as Lord Stirling. Stirling later sold the property to Robert Ogden in 1765. Over the years, the mine had several different owners.
In 1897, many smaller mines in the area joined together. They formed a big company called the New Jersey Zinc Company. The mine stopped working in 1986. It then opened as a museum in August 1990.
The Geology of Sterling Hill
The special rocks found at the Sterling Hill Mine are part of a large rock area called the Reading Prong. The valuable minerals are inside a type of rock called Franklin Marble. This rock started as limestone that formed in an ancient ocean.
This limestone changed a lot about 1.15 billion years ago. This big change happened during an event called the Grenville orogeny, which was a time when huge mountains formed. Over millions of years, the land lifted up and wore away. This brought the mineral deposits closer to the surface.
During the Pleistocene Ice Age, glaciers moved across the land. They carried pieces of ore-rich rock for many miles. Sometimes, these pieces formed new deposits that were big enough to be mined.
Amazing Minerals
The area around the Franklin and Sterling Hill mines is very special. More than 360 different types of minerals have been found here. This is about 10% of all the minerals known to science!
Thirty-five of these minerals have not been found anywhere else in the world. Also, 91 of the minerals found here can fluoresce, which means they glow under certain types of light.
The mine has about 35 miles (56 km) of tunnels. The main shaft goes down to 1,850 feet (560 m) below the surface. Another shaft goes even deeper, to 2,675 feet (815 m). Most of the lower parts of the mine are now filled with water. This is because of the natural water underground. The mine stays at a cool 56 °F (13 °C) all the time.
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Visiting the Museum
When you visit the Sterling Hill Mining Museum, your tour starts in the exhibit hall. Here, you can see many interesting things from the mine's past. There are old mining tools, different types of minerals, fossils, and even meteorites.
After the exhibit hall, you walk into the mine itself. It's a 1,300 foot (400 m) walk on flat ground through the upper part of the mine. Part of this path, about 240 foot (73 m) long, was created in 1990 using controlled explosions.
One of the most exciting parts is the Rainbow Tunnel. Here, special UV lights are turned on. They make the entire tunnel and many mineral samples glow with bright, fluorescent colors!
The museum also has the Ellis Astronomical Observatory. This is a place to look at stars. There's also the Thomas S. Warren Museum of Fluorescence, which focuses on glowing minerals. You can also see a large collection of old mining equipment.
See Also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Sussex County, New Jersey
- Backwards Tunnel, another historic site near the mine.
- Ogden Mine Railroad
Literature
- Robert W. Jones, Nature's hidden rainbows, Ultra-Violet Products, Inc., San Gabriel Calif., 120 pp., 1964, (pdf 34MB).
