Ever Hear of a Mining Museum in New Jersey?

One thing Boy Scouts do is engage in new discoveries. They sure found one at the Sterling Hill Mining Museum. 

The local troop, Springfield Boy Scout Troop 73, recently devoted an entire weekend to the museum, and it was more than looking at a bunch of rocks in a showcase.

The former zinc mine, just an hour from the George Washington Bridge, has been refashioned into a scientific zone with some of the most interesting things a family could do on a weekend jaunt.

A 1,300 foot underground tour of the fine, including mine galleries dating to the 1830s, were part of what fascinated the boys on their excursion. There was also the undeniably fascinating displays of "glow-in-the-dark" fluorescent minerals. The scouts toured the Museum of Fluroescence, and each was given a fluorescent specimen to commemorate the event. 

The Sterling Hill Mines also have an observatory of which the Boy Scout troop made good use.  They were treated to an introduction to astronomy program on Saturday night, which included clear viewing of both Jupiter and the Orion Nebula through a massive 20-inch reflector telescope at the on-site Ellis Astronomical Observatory.

As part of the hands-on tour, each boy went to the Rock Discovery Center, and were able to identify, collect, and take home six sample specimens. The boys were prepared for the unseasonably cold weather that weekend as they camped and prepared their meals out of doors.

For more information about Springfield Boy Scout Troop 73, please visit scoutlander.com, click on the directory, scroll down to the New Jersey section and select our link. For information about younger scouting, you can also select our Cub Scout Pack 73 link.

For more information about the Sterling Hill Mine Museum, visit their website at this link.