Sterling Hill Mining Museum offers insight into colorful ultraviolet minerals

As autumn approaches, splashes of crimson, gold, and purple spark up the waves of green leaves on our mountain ridges. It’s a great time for a road trip, a wonderful chance to chase the season across the state to a little-known spot in the wilds of New Jersey where rainbows wait to greet you—underground!

Established in 1990, the Sterling Hill Mining Museum showcases one of New Jersey’s former great industries, zinc mining. Acquired at tax auction and refurbished by brothers Richard and Robert Hauck, the Sterling Hill Mine provides a unique window into the past, educating and entertaining visitors of all ages.

The mine tour kicks off at the change house, where miners stored their “day” clothes while working underground. Clothing and boots hang from the ceiling; two rows of lockers give you a sense of how the building was once used. Now a museum, the change house overflows with intriguing exhibits ranging from antique mining lamps to displays of gold and copper ore. Guides challenge your knowledge about mining, and toss out some unusual facts. Ever wonder what they used for bathrooms underground? It’s here! You’ll see delicate crystals, giant boulders of metallic ores, and glowing stones—the secret treasure of Ogdensburg.

Visitors then walk to the adit, the ground level entrance to the mine, for a wander through the mine tunnels. Dioramas present the mining equipment used underground – right in the places where it was once used. Mining operations at the Sterling Hill Mine ended less than twenty years ago. Everything from the lamp room to the mancage (the miners’ elevator) and the ore skips (the elevator for the ore) is still in place. Learn how new tunnels were excavated using dynamite and heavy equipment, and how the ore was moved from the mine to waiting rail cars in the yard outside.   

Near the end of the tour, the Rainbow Room shows off the truly unique property of this mine. Under the soft ultraviolet glow, the walls and boulders spring to life in colors mirroring the change of the season—brilliant crimson, bright gold, shades of green. These zinc ores fluoresce under ultraviolet lamps, drawing mineral collectors from around the world for the special open house dates the museum holds to allow members to dig in the old pits and dumps.

But that’s not all! Especially bored into an ore body for dramatic effect, the Landmesser Tunnel gives you one more taste of these underground rainbows. Under the ultraviolet glow, a fiery red spill of calcite veins tumbles down through vivid greenish-yellow willemite patches on one wall, then trickles down into a pool of green water. Mine flooding forms an 180 foot deep “lake” in a cavernous chamber at one end of the tunnel; pool lighting in the water adds to the eerie effect.

After completing the walking tour, you’re welcome to browse around the self-interpretive displays on the property, featuring mining equipment from all over North America. You may also return to the change house for a closer look at the exhibits.

The mine tour takes two hours, and it’s all level walking. The air inside the mine is cool and damp, so you may want a sweater. Tours run from April through November; groups may visit by appointment during December and March. Hours vary by season. Call ahead for details or for group reservations and rates, at 973-209-7212.


IF YOU GO
Adjoining the Poconos, the northwest corner of New Jersey welcomes visitors with thousands of acres of parkland, all vibrant in fall color. A trip to northern NJ is best combined with a trip through the Poconos for maximum foliage enjoyment.

From Pittsburgh, follow the PA Turnpike to I-81 north; I-81 to Scranton; I-84 west to Port Jervis, New York (driving time six hours; lodgings available in Matamoras PA and Port Jervis NY). Exit after crossing the Delaware River, and follow NJ 23 south to Franklin. Stop at High Point State Park and savor New Jersey’s highest peak; enjoy a few hours poking through the Franklin Mineral Museum, a mecca for fluorescent mineral collectors. Turn off onto NJ 517 and watch for the signs leading you to the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg. Upon leaving the museum, head south on NJ 517 (be careful – the road makes a few jogs through Sparta!) to reach I-80 for your trip back to Pennsylvania. You may want to reserve lodgings in East Stroudsburg to enjoy the Delaware Water Gap and drive some of the Poconos’ back roads, or stay in NJ at the peaceful Inn at Panther Valley (908-852-3790), just south of I-80 along NJ 517 at Allamuchy. Follow I-80 west back to the I-81 interchange for your direct route home.

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