Rock on: Franklin Museum

Franklin - Where can you go and pay $6 to dig up a rock that could be worth $1000? You may think to yourself, “Nowhere,” but if you pay close attention while on your tour through the Franklin Mineral Museum on Evans Street in Franklin, you will learn it has been done. The Museum has a rich history, dating back to the 1600’s when King Charles II of England had possession of the property. Ownership changed many times over the first 200 years of European occupation and eventually there were several mining companies trying to mine the ore within Franklin. There were fights over who had the legal rights to the mine until finally in 1897 all the properties were joined and the New Jersey Zinc Company was born. The ore was mined until the shaft closed on September 30, 1954. The museum began in 1957 when the Kiwanis Club of Franklin started having annual mineral shows as a charity event. These shows were so successful, they began to think about a permanent museum which would attract visitors and raise even more money for the Kiwanis’ charities. On July 1, 1963 the Kiwanis Club incorporated The Franklin Mineral Museum, Inc. It took great effort from the Kiwanis club, a group of local mineral enthusiasts and the NJ Zinc Company to bring the dream for the Franklin Mineral Museum to fruition. The tour takes about 45 minutes and begins in the local mineral room. In this room are many samples of different colors, shapes and sizes of the minerals local to Franklin, such as Franklinite, Willemite and Zincite, the world’s richest zinc ore. “Willemite is tough to ID because it comes in a variety of colors,” explained tour guide and mineral enthusiast Andy Richter. All of the staff are happy to answer any questions about the minerals and are very knowledgeable. The next room on the tour is the Fluorescent room, where your guide turns out the overhead lights and turns on the Ultraviolet lights so you can see the amazing and colorful glow of a variety of minerals- including a very rare example of Franklin Wollastonite. “This is a major collectors item, none new have been found in over 40 years,” said Richter. More than 80 species of minerals have been found in the Franklin area, most of them are on display at the museum. The final area of rocks to explore is from the collection of Wilfred “Bill” and Mary Welsh. Bill Welsh had an extensive collection of minerals from around the world. He was a local teacher who actually had classes over the years at his house to view the collection as part of the curriculum. When he retired, he donated his entire collection to the museum. The Welsh room has minerals from every continent except Antarctica. There are examples of Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic rocks along with the vast minerals specimens. Mineralist Ray Latewiek, of Hampton, is on staff at the museum. Latewiek specializes in minerals which have veins, or stripes. “They were called ribbons by the miners.” He is also in charge of the minerals bought and sold by the museum. “We try to buy the best minerals for our collection, but what we don’t keep we offer to sell to collectors,” said Latewiek. “There’s a resurgence of mineral collectors in the area, and prices have gone up.” Latewiek has weekly sales on a variety of minerals to entice collectors. To help start your own collection, you can mine for your first mineral in the Buckwheat Dump. The original mine is filled with water and rocks, but for only $6 for an adult and $4 per child and $1 per pound you can search thought the remaining rocks to find your own mineral. Two additional rooms are the Fossil Room and the Indian Room. In the Fossil Room are examples of human skulls and slabs of Petrified wood from the Petrified Forest in Arizona. There’s even a very small skull of a prehistoric horse found in Texas. In the Indian Room are cultural artifacts and stone tools. Your final stop before the gift shop is the Mine Replica. The replica was built for a 1940 exhibit at the Neighborhood House and was afterwards used as a facility to train miners in rescue work. Now you can tour the replica, which is as cold as a real mine, and see the different types of equipment used by the miners, from the hats with candles on them for lighting to the large air pressure driven drills used in later times. The museum is open on weekendsonly untill April 1, and then is open seven days a week. There are two Mineral shows held in conjunction with the Sterling Mineral Museum. The Earth Science show is in April and the Franklin Mineral Show is in September. To visit the museum or for more information about it, you call 973-827-3481 or visit them online at www.franklinmineralmuseum.com.