Colorado School of Mines Museum

Mines Museum of Earth Science


Useful Information

Location: Colorado School of Mines, General Research Lab (GRL) building, 1310 Maple St., Golden, CO 80401.
(39.751864, -105.224771)
Open: All year Mon-Sat 9-16, Sun 13-16.
Closed 01-JAN, 04-JUL, 25-DEC.
[2021]
Fee: free.
[2021]
Classification: SubterraneaMining Museum SubterraneaCave Replica
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: Ar=1,400 m².
Guided tours: self guided. V=30,000/a [2019]
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Mines Museum, Colorado School of Mines, 1310 Maple St., Golden, CO 80401, Tel: +1-303-273-3815. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1873 museum founded with the collection of the geologist Arthur Lakes.
1874 museum opened to the public.
1890s Colorado State Mineral Collection added.

Description

The Colorado School of Mines Museum is generally called Mines Museum or Mines Museum of Earth Science. It was formerly named Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. Obviously, because of its location at the School of Mines, this museum is centered on mining.

Nevertheless, it is actually a Natural History Museum, with rocks, minerals, fossils and other fascinating Earth Science-related objects. More than 2,000 items are currently on display and more than 40,000 items are in the collection and regularly rotated to provide fresh exhibit. Highlights are two Goodwill moon rocks collected during the Apollo 17 mission. Then there is a collection of meteorites. Another highlight is the Miss Colorado Crown containing over 600 gemstones and 21 diamonds. Then there is an exhibition on ultraviolet minerals and radioactivity.

The museum is also the state repository for Colorado’s mineral heritage. Beneath the most extensive public collection of minerals from Colorado, the museum als has a cave replica and a realistic mine on the downstairs floor. The mining exhibition contains historic mining artifacts and other historic mining treasures. The main gallery also showcases historic mining murals by Irwin Hoffman.