The Iron Mining Museum at Negaunee has a great exhibit and gift shop
(lots of books). There is also an old iron mine in Iron Mountain, and
the restored Quincy copper mine in the Keeweenaw Peninsula near Hancock,
that both provide a cool tour deep into the mountains.  Neither of these
mines have much in the way of archives, library, or books for sale.  To
cap off the experience I found a open pit iron ore mine which only
closed in the last 5-10 years.  Michigan folk lore galore in the U.P.

The best place to visit, however, is Fayette State Park, with its intact
original buildings of the Iron making industry at its peak in the
1870s.  There is a whole village, originally occupied by around 500
people, open for tours all summer.  A really fine model shows what the
entire area looked like at the peak of production.  There isn't much
(any?) of a gift shop or library;  for research go to the Michigan
Historical Center in Lansing.  We ran our first-ever Fayette Field
School in Conservation last summer on site at Fayette.  Big success and
lots of fun...(anyone reading this who was there to corroborate my
stories?)

Ilene

Heidi Harendza wrote:
>
> In a message dated 09/24/1999 5:25:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
> writes:
>
> > Is this the place where you get to go down in the coal mine? If so, great
> >  place, worth the visit.
>
> I think the one in Scranton is the one that has the coal mine tour. Honestly
> I haven't been to either one, but I have the brochures on hand here at the
> office-- I just can't imagine that a museum on the history of coal mining
> wouldn't have SOME kind of resources for that type of research.
>
> I remember there is also a mining tour somewhere in northern NJ, as I recall
> from my days staffing at the local Convention and Visitors Bureau... but I
> don't think that one is nearly as large as the one in PA. I seem to remember
> the one in NJ features different kinds of phosphorescent rock.
>
> I keep promising myself that *someday* I'll get a chance to visit some of
> these esoteric museums that I've seen advertized, but haven't as yet made the
> time. Perhaps now is the moment.
>
> -Heidi