Mining Museum

The World Museum of Mining was founded in 1963 when the close of Butte's mining heyday was less than two decades away.  In the end, Butte experienced a century of hard-rock mining and earned the reputation of being home to one of the world's most productive copper mines of all time. The Museum exists to preserve the enduring history of Butte and the legacy of its rich mining and cultural heritage. The World Museum of Mining is one of the few museums in the world located on an actual mine yard, the Orphan Girl Mine. With fifty exhibit buildings, countless artifacts, and sixty-six primary exhibits in the mine yard, visitors can spend a couple of hours to an entire day lost in the unfolding story. By walking the streets of Hell Roarin' Gulch and venturing to the depths of the Orphan Girl Mine, you can almost see their blackened faces and hear their exhausted sighs at the conclusion of the workday.