A Sightseer's Guide to EngineeringNational Society of Professional EngineersNational Engineer's Week
 


The Orphan Girl Mine was a popular place to work, because it was relatively cool underground (55-65 degrees F) compared with other mines, where temperatures at 3000-5000 feet down could be 100-110 degrees F. Because of this, one of Orphan Girl's early owners, Copper King Marcus Daly, brought investors here, rather than to a "hot box" on Butte hill.


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MONTANA Printable version
World Museum of Mining
155 Museum Way
Butte, MT 59701
406/723-7211
Web Site
Explore a 44-acre museum (allow at least 2 hours!) and a re-created mining town, Hell Roarin' Gulch. 
Hours of Operation: Open daily, Apr. 1-Oct. 31, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (9 p.m. May 27-Sept. 5). Admission.
One of only a few museums located on a historic mine site, the World Museum of Mining features tools and technology developed by mining engineers from the 1860s to 1970s. Standing on land once worked by the Orphan Girl Mine, the museum's outside yard, alone, contains 66 major exhibits, giving visitors a close-up look at the immense mining machinery and specialized equipment, much of which was used here and is in operating condition. The mine was called Orphan Girl because it was relatively isolated on the western side of the Butte mining district. Before shutting down in 1956, the mine produced more than 7.5 million ounces of silver.
 
Who Made It: The museum is located on the site of the Orphan Girl Mine, to which the first claim was made in 1875 by Thomas Haney, Demas L. McFarland, James F. Prowse, and William W. Prowse. The mine was shut down in 1956, and surface structures were donated to the museum in 1964 by the Anaconda Company (now ARCO).