EXPLORE FURTHER

On Wednesday , January 15, l998 Ms. Mendenhall’s fifth grade class went on a field trip to the Original Sixteen to One Mine in Alleghany. It was snowing when we got there. Everyone was really excited.

First, we went inside the Alleghany Mining Museum to get hard hats. The museum was really neat. There were old pictures of miners who used to work in the Original Sixteen To One Mine. The tourguide started our tour by reviewing safety rules to follow in the mine.

Finally, we were on our way to the mine site. Our tour went inside the main office building.

The offices and computers were there. One room was called the Dry Room. It was very warm and smelled really bad. All the miners clothes were hanging from lines on the ceiling. We were told the clothes had never been washed.

We walked to the mine entrance and divided into two groups. I was in group two. At first it was cold in the mine, but as we got further inside it got warmer. We saw some miners working. They work very hard and get hot and sweaty. I know I would never want to be a miner.

We heard and felt the water splashing around our feet. In some parts of the mine the water was so deep we had to straddle the ore cart rails. I slipped a few times. Sometimes the ceiling was really low and I hit my head. That’s why we wore hard hats.

The guides showed us their fish pond. They told us tthe miners wanted to see if the fish could live down in the mine. The fish were doing fine so far.

We walked in about a mile and went down some steep wooden steps. We were almost to the Ballroom when we came to another set of stairs.. At the bottom of the stairs we could see the huge room made of white quartz.

Just thinking of eating lunch made me feel really, really excited. There were lights, music and benches. It was soooooo neat! It felt really good to sit down after such a long hike. After we ate our lunch, we went on a really neat trail that went high up the walls where the gold miners used to work. We could see everybody down in the Ballroom. Before we left the Ballroom we were allowed to pick one rock to take home.

On our way out of the mine I saw the opening where there was daylight. It was a relief to be outside. My eyes had to get used to the light, instead of darkness. We drove home and dropped off my friends. The trip to the Original Sixteen To One Mine was a great experience. It was very interesting to visit the mine and learn so much about hardrock mining.

Would you like to go inside a gold mine?

The Day the Whopper Came out of the 16 to 1 Mine

The Original 16 to 1 Mine Website

The Empire Mine