WHAT’S HERE
Local Mining Heritage
View minerals from the Franklin and Sterling Hill mining district, including numerous specimens of the local zinc ore minerals (willemite, franklinite, and zincite).
Fluorescent Room
A 32-foot-long display showcasing local fluorescent minerals. Discover why the New Jersey State Legislature in 1968 declared Franklin the “Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World.”
American Indian Room
A main feature of this room is a large collection of Native American stone tools made by the Lenni Lenape Indians, the earliest inhabitants of what later became New Jersey.
Fossil Room
The fossil room offers a fine selection of fossil trilobites, dinosaur footprints, a mastodon tusk, and coprolites (fossil dung!) and more.
Welsh Hall
Visitors will marvel at the diverse collection of worldwide minerals, numbering more than 5,000 specimens in all.
Mine Replica and Artifacts
See numerous mining-related items such as cap lamps, mill concentrates, pig iron, and artifacts from Thomas Edison’s iron-mining and milling operation on Sparta Mountain.
Gem Sluice & Fossil Dig
Hands-on activity for children of all ages
Much like panning for panning for gold, sluice away sand to reveal hidden “gems”. Or, dig for fossils like a paleontologist, but take them home.
Buckwheat Dump
3.5 acres of rock for collecting
Worldwide fame for some rare mineral finds