While we were in Hancock, MI my uncle suggested that we check out the
Seaman Mineral Museum. When he started describing the interesting items on display, we knew we'd have to check it out. While the museum in located on Michigan Tech's campus it's somewhat difficult to find.
After looking at the museum's website and several campus maps, we finally found building 7...
Upon entering the building we spotted this sign about 8 feet up the wall. (I'm not sure if you can tell, but the sign is about 6 inches high.)
And after a ride on a boring ol' elevator...
We came upon
this!
Yes- I completely agree that it is the most anti-climatic museum entrance I have ever seen. But what the entrance lacked in interest, the museum made up for in abundance!
The museum was filled with mineral specimens from throughout Michigan, but more importantly throughout the Upper Peninsula! The history of the museum is quite interesting. In the late 1800's, Michigan Tech taught several courses in geology and mineralogy and would search for and acquire specimens for use in the classroom. By the turn of the century an amazing array of minerals had been purchased or donated to the school, and in 1902 the collection was put on display. Prof. Arthur Seaman was officially named curator of the museum in 1928, and when he died the museum was renamed in his memory. It is now believed to be one of the finest collections of minerals in North America- and we got to stop by for a visit!
As with most museums, we were free to wander the displays at our leisure. I decided to start with some history on how many of the specimens were found, which included a few mining artifacts.
But pretty soon I was drawn to the thousands of mineral specimens on display- like this gorgeous piece of copper.
Each case contained a theme, whether Keeweenaw County Copper...
U.P. agates...
Amethysts...
Geodes...
Weird, bulbous things (I totally forgot the name but had to include this photo because it's so cool looking)...
Petrified wood (my personal favorite)...
Or even sulphur!
While there are over 8,000 specimens on display, the museum owns more than 30,000- talk about a treasure!
As I'm sure you've gleaned, our family enjoys collecting rocks, so we had a blast seeing such perfect examples of various minerals... things we could never dream of discovering on a lakeshore in a million years!
Towards the end of our visit we walked into a special exhibit. This little hallway was built to show...
How these rocks were phosphorescent (which meant that under a black light they glowed)... groovy, right?
As we made our way to the end of the museum, I was particularly happy to see that they had a gift shop... I love buying mementos!
I hope I'm not boring you too much with all this rock talk! Thank you for stopping by- I hope you had a great day!
My family has spent the week sharing stories and memories about him.
And though we've shed some tears, we've also shared quite a few laughs because my grandpa was quite a guy.
While our family was planning his memorial service, we came across the perfect poem for the program:
God saw you getting tired
And a cure was not meant to be;
So he put his arms around you
And whispered "Come with me."
With tearful eyes we watched you
And so you passed away,
Although we loved you dearly,
We could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating,
Hard working hands at rest,
God broke our hearts to prove to us
God only takes the best.
We were so lucky to have such a wonderful grandpa: a grandpa who played with us, taught us about nature, shared the importance of family, supported us, and loved us! We miss you and love you Grandpa!
