by In a New Jersey mine spanning 2,670 vertical feet—more than twice as deep as the Empire State Building is tall—visitors might notice a little glow. Well, a lot of glow, actually. The Sterling Hill Mining Museum is known to have the world’s largest publicly displayed collection of fluorescent rocks—ones that beam bright neon colors under certain types of light. The museum is an old zinc mine—one of the oldest in the country, having opened in 1739 and in operation until 1986, during which time it was an important site for hauling out zinc, as well as iron and manganese. The abandoned mine was purchased in 1989 and converted to a museum in 1990, and now welcomes about 40,000 people every year. The museum itself includes both outdoor and indoor mining exhibits, rock and fossil discovery centers, an observatory, an underground mine tour and the Thomas S. Warren Museum of Fluorescence, devoted to the glowing minerals.
The fluorescence museum occupies the mine’s old mill, a structure dating to 1916. There’s about 1,800 square feet of space, with more than two dozen exhibits—some of which you can touch and experience on your own. Even the entrance is impressive; more than 100 huge fluorescent mineral specimens cover an entire wall that’s lit up by different types of ultraviolet light, displaying the glowing capabilities of each mineral type. For kids, there’s a “cave,” complete with a fluorescent volcano, a castle and some glowing wildlife. And there’s an exhibit comprised solely of fluorescent rocks and minerals from Greenland. All told, more than 700 objects are on display in the museum.
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The fluorescence museum occupies the mine’s old mill, a structure dating to 1916. There’s about 1,800 square feet of space, with more than two dozen exhibits—some of which you can touch and experience on your own. Even the entrance is impressive; more than 100 huge fluorescent mineral specimens cover an entire wall that’s lit up by different types of ultraviolet light, displaying the glowing capabilities of each mineral type. For kids, there’s a “cave,” complete with a fluorescent volcano, a castle and some glowing wildlife. And there’s an exhibit comprised solely of fluorescent rocks and minerals from Greenland. All told, more than 700 objects are on display in the museum.
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