Tagged With "mining"
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Re: Swinner Gill Waterfalls and Lead Mine
very nice set as always my friend,i can only aspire to be as good as this
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Re: July 23, 2017: Salt Lake, Salt Mines & Salt Caravans, Ethiopia
It is almost impossible to describe the debilitating heat in this location. We would instantly scurry to any shade possible, however inadequate. I have been on the southern fringe and broiled in hot springs about 30km off the road to Harar. Afars looked through me, knowing I was irrelevant in their world. In years gone by, my testicles would have been their chief interest in me, for decorating their waistband !
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Re: July 23, 2017: Salt Lake, Salt Mines & Salt Caravans, Ethiopia
Great photos of a surreal landscape!
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Re: May 8, 2018: Downtown Leadville
So inviting! Thank you for showing us such a great destination!
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Re: The Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana (Where Gumbo was #130)
Fascinating. The tailings pond looks so inviting. I hate to think that water fowl might land there. I hope animal instinct keeps them away from the toxic water. I also wonder what will become of the pit after the water is purified and pumped away. Or, will that process continue indefinitely because of the water seepage?
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Re: The Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana (Where Gumbo was #130)
Thanks for your comment, HistoryDigger. The tailing pond is relatively shallow and I don't believe is anywhere near as contaminated as the pit water. But I still wouldn't swim in it (not that you could, the entire area is sealed off except to workers) The pit water really is not accessible to anything except birds flying in, and hopefully their natural fear of flying into a hole would keep them away. There's enough rivers and lakes nearby that they have a lot of options -- not like trying to...
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Re: The Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana (Where Gumbo was #130)
Wow what a piece of history. I didn't even know this existed. Thanks for sharing this story.
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Re: Midland Provincial Park, Alberta
My Grand Father worked in UK Coalmines around the 1900s . Stories he could tell were both amazing and scarey. Miners were exempt from War Service during WW1 as they supplied an "Essential Service". Women were employed at the Mines but never went below ground. Mules were used below ground - pulling bogeys - and never came back to the surface during their lives.
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Re: Gold Country California: Malakoff Diggins, Ranger Connie in Charge
Lovely, once again. i take it you went up No. Bloomfield Road not Tyler Foote.....lol....I did that ONCE too!
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Re: Gold Country California: Malakoff Diggins, Ranger Connie in Charge
It does seem a fascinating place! Enjoyed your very lovely historic photos and narrative. I suspect we've all meet a "Ranger Connie" in our lives. Sometimes a little power backfires. I'll need to visit this part of California sometime. What is the altitude of this area? Suppose fall and spring are the best times to visit?
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Re: Gold Country California: Malakoff Diggins, Ranger Connie in Charge
I did, indeed, Dgems. And this last time, too, up one way, down the other. But it seems to me one is about as bad as the other and I'm so glad I decided not to live up there! The altitude at the park is about 5,000', DrF, and it gets quite a bit of snow when there's moisture to be had. So, anytime but winter is a good time. Tours by "herself" are summer only. Grass Valley and Nevada City are at about 2500'.
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Re: Wallace, Idaho: From mining town to "Center of the Universe"
Wish I'd had THAT manhole cover for the blog we had here on Gumbo! And you got my heart with the bus...same model was my school bus at Fort Leavenworth in the 50s...
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Re: Wallace, Idaho: From mining town to "Center of the Universe"
Wallace reminds me of all my favorite places in the western US although I'd never heard of it before. I guess it's the look of an era rather than a particular place, when civilization arrived, paid for by the mines. Shacks replaced by wood replaced by stone & brick, a similar story all over the West. And amazing that so many survive. Thanks, DrF.
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Re: Wallace, Idaho: From mining town to "Center of the Universe"
Wallace is a very neat town to visit, very recommended stop along the I-90 freeway. Perfect place to walk around for a half day or day and take in the ambience of small town America. As you say, Port Moresby, there's a repeatable charm to how these towns grew up.
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Re: Wallace, Idaho: From mining town to "Center of the Universe"
Nice bus, i would like to take a trip on it
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Re: Wallace, Idaho: From mining town to "Center of the Universe"
I love visiting old, small towns. There can be so much to see and it looks like Wallace has a lot of interesting history. The Bordello museum sounds fascinating and classic buses are a favorite of mine too. Thanks for taking us there DrF.
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Re: Gold Country, California: The Empire Mine
Interesting to look at the beautiful pictures of the beautiful and luxurious house...and then to be reminded by traveling down (pictorially for me, literally for you!) to the source of the wealth. Did the Empire Mine and others like it also have "company towns" for miners similar to those in the Pennsylvania coal regions?
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Re: Gold Country, California: The Empire Mine
Pheymont, that question was also asked on the tour. The answer is no, because the town of Grass Valley was already a thriving community very nearby, housing and services were available to the miners already, making it unnecessary for the mine to provide them. In general, mining in the vicinity was started by individuals, lots of them, and the communities grew organically, with some making fortunes, not from the gold by mining it, but by taking it in payment from miners in exchange for...
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Re: Gold Country, California: The Empire Mine
The company towns in the coal territories had another function as well...they made the miners dependent on the company for housing, paid in scrip redeemable at the company store (remember "Sixteen Tons"?). That not only gave the company a second profit from the miners' labor through high prices; it also gave the company a great deal of control over miners' lives—because striking or being fired meant a total uprooting and expulsion. I guess the model didn't take root in the gold camps!
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Re: Gold Country, California: The Empire Mine
What a wonderful tour of the empire mine and property! It is a marvelous story to tell and you told it well!
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Re: Gold Country, California: The Empire Mine
Thanks, Dgems. High praise indeed, from a local!
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Re: Gold Country, California: The Empire Mine
Fascinating tour! I know a lot more about the Klondike gold rush than this one, but gold rushes do make for entertaining reading and sightseeing!
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Oct. 28, 2013: Northern Pacific Depot Museum, Wallace, Idaho
Wallace is located in Idaho's panhandle near the Montana state line. It sprung to life during a silver mining boom in 1884. Within a few years Wallace was very prosperous and, with 2000 residents, the third largest town in the new...
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Silver Plume, Colorado
I love going on leisurely road trips -- the kind where you've several spare hours to pull over somewhere and explore. If a place seems interesting, I like to check it out. So it was this past summer while we were visiting...
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July 23, 2017: Salt Lake, Salt Mines & Salt Caravans, Ethiopia
Grand Escapes shares a most remarkable landscape, unlike any other today. We visit the salt lake and mines in The Danikil Depression.
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Hope, Alaska: Gold, Salmon and more
DrFumblefinger visits Hope, Alaska. Site of the first Alaska gold rush, the town is small but many of the gold-era mining buildings survive. Thousands of pink salmon were migrating upstream to spawn, a sight DrFumblefinger will always remember.
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The Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana (Where Gumbo was #130)
When most people think of Montana, images of mountains or "Big Sky country" or wildlife spring to mind. Usually you don't think of a massive hole in the ground, but that was the focus of this week's puzzle. Gumbo was visiting the...
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Hunt for Nazi treasure train gets serious
Polish soldiers clearing the area of mines After 70 years of rumors about a treasure-laden train hidden in Poland by retreating German armies, authorities may (they hope!) be close to finding the truth. With help from the Polish Mining...
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Lownathwaite Lead Mines, North Yorkshire
Ian Cook shares photos of a most unusual landscape. As he said, "The beck in Gunnerside Gill flows through a landscape that looks like something from the Lord of the Rings; an orcish encampment perhaps or the abandoned halls of some race of long-dead Men."
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A Stroll down Main Street, Gold Hill, Colorado
DrFumblefinger loves visiting old mining towns, of which there are many in Colorado. One of the most interesting is the town of Gold Hill, formed before Colorado had even been granted statehood.
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Sir Francis Lead Mine, North Yorkshire
Ian Cook shares beautiful photos and the story of one of the lead mines in Gunnerside Gill, North Yorkshire -- the fascinating Sir Francis Lead Mine.
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Aug. 3, 2018: Canmore Miners' Union Hall
One of the oldest buildings in the town of Canmore is the Miner's Union Hall. Completed in 1913 to serve the coal miner's union, it now functions as a community gathering site and is a popular venue for weddings.
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May 18, 2018: Blakethwaite Lead Mine, North Yorkshire
Ian Cook presents another of the fascinating old lead mines and smelts, this one the Blakethwaite Lead Mine, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, in North Yorkshire
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June 1, 2018: Lownathwaite Lead Mine, North Yorkshire
Some more fascinating images from Ian Cook's visit to the ruins of the Lownathwaite Lead Mine, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, North Yorkshire.
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May 8, 2018: Downtown Leadville
DrFumblefinger loves to visit old mining towns. Leadville, situated high in the Colorado Rockies, was once the second largest city in Colorado. Today it is a sleepy city whose Historic District offers an interesting window into the city's past
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Gold Country, California: The Empire Mine
The owner’s house, Empire Cottage, looks English for a reason. William Bourn, Jr. was a student at Cambridge University when his father, San Francisco businessman William Bourne, Sr. died in 1879 and 22 year old William, Jr. was...
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Mining Rust: Joshua Tree National Park
The old Wall Street Mill mine in Joshua Tree National Park is long closed, but some old trucks remind us of the small community that once lived here.
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Gold Country California: Malakoff Diggins, Ranger Connie in Charge
Hydraulic mining in action. Note the size of the miner, lower left. It’s hard to believe one could find a place that’s 45 minutes drive up a mountain on a very bad road by accident, but that’s how it...
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Swinner Gill Waterfalls and Lead Mine
Ian Cook shares a collection of beautiful photos of a waterfall and its nearby mine, which has an interesting history. From North Yorkshire, England
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Midland Provincial Park, Alberta
DrFumblefinger visits Midland Provincial Park, situated near both the city of Drumheller and the famous Royal Tyrrell Museum. It was once the site of a large coal mine and an interpretative trail takes one through the history of coal mining in the region.
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Wallace, Idaho: From mining town to "Center of the Universe"
I've driven past the picturesque town of Wallace, Idaho (population about 800) many times and had always been drawn to the historic buildings and beautiful setting. I remember telling my wife that someday we needed to exit and explore the town,...
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Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland (Where Gumbo was #142)
Our mystery destination was the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine. The mine is one of the world's oldest salt mines and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Take a tour of the mine with TravelGumbo!
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Signs of Butte
DrFumblefinger collects photos of signs, and enjoyed those of old mining town, Butte.
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Jacksonvillle Arboretum & Gardens, Florida
Gumbo was at very interesting Jacksonvillle Arboretum & Gardens.
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Old Gang Lead Mine & Smelt Mill, North Yorkshire
Ian Cook shares the fascinating history of lead mining and lots of great photos of the Old Gang Lead Mine & Smelt Mill in North Yorkshire
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Cape Breton Miners Museum, Glace Bay
Travel Rob visits the moving and informative Cape Breton Miners Museum in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
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Re: Silver Plume, Colorado
I love that part of Colorado, lived for 5 years farther down Clear Creek in Golden ("It's the water." Coors). I did some exploring but never got to Silver Plume. But to nearby Georgetown to see where my miner 3rd great grandfather, Gustavus Augustus Williams plied his trade for a number of years, according to the records. The architecture is much the same as here in California Gold Country and my family's presence in the West for generations means it looks like home to me. Thanks, DrF.
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Re: Silver Plume, Colorado
Many of my ancestors travelled to the new world in search of their fortune. A few stayed and started a new family line. And a few lost their lives to logging and other accidents. So were the few inhabitants of Silver Plume an ageing population ? Did the town have that look of a closing down sale ? I love visiting small towns with a rich history. Will it disappear into the dust of time ? Wouldn't it be great if someone did a history of these one time boom towns before they vanish.
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Re: Silver Plume, Colorado
Thanks for your comments, Garry and PortMoresby. Those few people left in the town were a mix of older folks and some younger ones. I expect the town will continue in its present state for sometime. Those who did well in the mining booms were always those first there (who staked the claims), but even more so those who came in and provided services (groceries, hotels, restaurants, bars, brothels). The latter were often the only ones who kept any of their wealth.