I was talking to my friend Kim early last week and she told me that she had never been to Quincy Mine. Since she is graduating this May, were she to go, it would have to be before they closed for the winter. We made plans to go out Saturday morning at 9:30am, but due to an overly long power outage on campus, I ended up droving to the dorms after waiting half an hour to find out what had become of her.

After waking her up, we grabbed some breakfast and headed over to Hancock to pick Kevin up. A short drive up the hill and we piled out of my car, purchased tickets and scurried to the building housing the first tour area. After listening to a talk (I could probably give it by now, I’ve heard it so many times) about the world’s largest steam hoist (below) we headed for the ride to the mine entrance.

After a cog tram ride down a very steep hill, we boarded a trailer and drove into the mine. This was my third trip and I’m still impressed by the enormity of the affair. This is a mine shaft that stretches down over 10,000 and is 2 miles long on its horizontal plane. Not missing an opportunity, I quickly mounted my flash on my camera and started shooting. I imagine the following photos can tell the story better than I can.

We were quite a ways in!

A stope, this is an area where miners would actively seek copper ore; drilling above their heads for the mineral.

Kevin and Kim, posing for a picture.

Kevin took a picture of Kim and I.

After the tour of the mine finished, we headed back up the hill in the tram and wandered around the rest of the complex.

The tram, poised for its journey up the hill.

Cars for the railroad that used to move ore between the mine and the stamp mills.

The building on the left housed the steam hoist.

This is the shaft house; rope ran from the hoist building into this one and down into the mine. Men and rock passed down this shaft, 6 times a week.

The scale of the mining that took place in this area is incredible. While I know the impact it has had on the region intellectually, a trip to one of the local mines always brings that back to home. It’s a good thing the university didn’t close down with the last of the mines, or I doubt that the community would have survived at all.