Orange County Mineral Society, Inc.
A Non-Profit Organization Established in 1953 In Orange County, New York
A Non-Profit Organization Established in 1953 In Orange County, New York
Our neighbors right over the New Jersey border in Sussex County are home to the world famous Fluorescent Minerals.
Franklin, New Jersey known as the "Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World," is located over a rich ore body containing more than 382 minerals, 98 of them fluorescent and 25 of which are found nowhere else on earth.
If you are looking for something fun and interesting to do with the family, take a trip to the 2 museums in the Franklin- Ogdensburg area.
Gem Sluice & Fossil Dig for the kids, or try the Buckwheat dump. The Buckwheat Dump, a field of rock 3.5 acres in extent, is the main collecting area for our visitors. Originally used by the New Jersey Zinc Company as a place to dump unwanted rock from the mine, the Buckwheat Dump has gained worldwide fame over the years for the rare minerals found there.
Visit The Franklin Mineral Museum Fluorescent Mineral Display. Explore one of the finest public displays of fluorescent minerals in the world. Our main display, 32 feet long, features hand-sized to large (up to 2.5 ft) specimens of the local fluorescent minerals, all brightly glowing in rich hues of red, green, orange, yellow, and blue. For brilliance and variety of color the local minerals remain unsurpassed and have been aptly described by one visitor as “fireworks frozen in the dark.”
Next, head on over to Sterling Hill Mine.
The Sterling Hill Mine, now known as the Sterling Hill Mine Tour & Museum of Fluorescence, is a former iron and zinc mine in Ogdensburg, Sussex County, New Jersey. It was the last working underground mine in New Jersey when it closed in 1986. It became a museum in 1989. Take a tour inside the mine, Visit the THE WARREN MUSEUM OF FLUORESCENCE or go mineral collecting in the mine run dump.
Both Museums offer special events, school trips, mineral mining in the dark, Haunted Halloween mine tours and much, much more.
The photos show below are courtesy of www.smithsonian.com and the article they wrote "Follow This Rainbow Tunnel to the World’s Largest Collection of Fluorescent Rocks, Get glowing in the Sterling Hill Mining Museum"
By Jennifer Billock, www.smithsonian.com
