mining.jamison.museum

The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums is closed from November 1 through April 30. Its tour season runs May through October. If you are planning a winter visit, the museum notes that special winter programming is listed under its programs and special events section, so check that page before assuming the site is inactive.

Tour Season at a Glance

What the Season Means for Your Visit

The one-hour guided tour of the 1845 Bevans Lead-Zinc Mine and the ride on the 1931 mine train are the centerpiece of a visit, and both sit inside the May–October window. The mine train runs weather permitting, so even in season a ride is not guaranteed on a given day.

The mine tour involves walking down a 90-step incline, where temperature and humidity change as you descend — worth knowing when you pick clothing and footwear for a summer or early-fall visit.

Planning Around the Closure

• Summer and early fall: the safest window for the full experience — mine tour, train ride, and the exhibit galleries in the 1863 Rock School and 1905 Hanmer Robbins School.
• November through April: plan on the museum being closed. Check the programs and special events listings for winter offerings rather than turning up expecting a tour.
• Late October: the season ends October 31, so treat the final days of the month as the tail end of tour availability rather than a shoulder period.

The museum's three-acre campus also includes outdoor greenspace, a pollinator garden, and picnic grounds, and the museum store sells rock and mineral specimens and regional-history gifts — all part of an in-season visit.

The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums website is the official online home of a three-acre museum campus in southwestern Wisconsin that preserves the lead-zinc mining heritage and regional natural and cultural history of the Upper Mississippi Valley. The site is useful if you are planning a visit, want to understand what the museum offers, or are looking for tour and exhibit information before you go. Note that the museum is closed from November 1 through April 30, with the tour season running May through October.

What the museum is

The campus sits in the historic lead-zinc mining region near the world's largest "M." Its exhibits and interpretive programs are housed in several historically significant buildings and outdoor spaces:

• The 1845 Bevans Lead-Zinc Mine
• The 1863 Rock School
• The 1905 Hanmer Robbins School
• Outdoor greenspace, a pollinator garden, and picnic grounds

The museum's collection of regional mining artifacts and dioramas, founded in 1964, is described as among the largest in the Upper Midwest. Exhibits cover Mississippi Valley-Type lead-zinc ore deposits and how local mining led to Wisconsin's nickname as the Badger State. Cultural history displays represent the one-man collection of folk historian Rollo Jamison, with objects ranging from cigar molds and bull halters to hair wreaths.

What you can do on a visit

The core experience is a one-hour guided tour of the underground mine, reached by a 90-step incline into the 1845 Bevans Mine. Along the way, you pass through more than 100 years of local lead and zinc mining history, and a visit to the headframe shows how ore was hoisted to the surface and hand-sorted. Weather permitting, you can also ride in an ore car pulled by a 1931 Whitcomb locomotive that was used at the Blackstone Mine near Shullsburg until the 1950s; the train has carried more than 300,000 visitors since 1978.

Beyond the mine, you can explore indoor exhibit galleries, walk the outdoor grounds, and shop for rock and mineral specimens and regional-history gifts in the museum store.

What the website provides

The site functions as a visitor planning tool rather than an online catalog. Based on the homepage, it offers:

When to use it

Use the site if you are deciding whether to visit, checking whether tours are running in a given month, or looking for winter programming during the November–April closure. Because the homepage does not list prices, tour times, or booking conditions, confirm those details directly through the ticket and tour pages before making plans.

The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums in southwestern Wisconsin preserve two distinct but connected histories: the lead and zinc mining heritage of the Upper Mississippi Valley Mining District, and the rural folk culture of the region as collected by local historian Rollo Jamison. You can see both on a single visit — the underground mine tour covers more than 100 years of local mining, while the exhibit galleries hold Jamison's one-man collection of everyday rural objects. The museum is open seasonally, with tours running May through October and the site closed November 1 through April 30 (special winter programming is listed separately).

The Lead and Zinc Mining Story

The museum sits in the heart of the historic lead-zinc mining region, on a three-acre campus near the world's largest "M." Its centerpiece is the 1845 Bevans Lead Mine, where Lorenzo Bevans struck it rich just yards from the museum's back door more than 150 years ago.

On the one-hour guided underground tour, you walk down a 90-step incline into the mine. The temperature and humidity shift as you descend — a sensory detail the museum highlights as part of the experience. The tour traces over a century of local lead and zinc mining, and a visit to the headframe shows how ore was hoisted to the surface and hand-sorted.

Above ground, the 1931 Whitcomb locomotive pulls ore cars on a train ride across the campus (weather permitting). The locomotive was used at the Blackstone Mine near Shullsburg until the 1950s, and the train has carried more than 300,000 adults and children since 1978.

The exhibit galleries, founded in 1964, hold one of the largest collections of regional mining artifacts and dioramas in the Upper Midwest. Displays explain Mississippi Valley-Type lead-zinc ore deposits and how local mining led to Wisconsin's nickname, the Badger State.

Rollo Jamison's Folk-History Collection

The cultural history exhibits represent the one-man collection of folk historian Rollo Jamison. The displays range widely — from boxing squirrels to hair wreaths, bull halters, and cigar molds — and are meant to give visitors a picture of rural life in southwestern Wisconsin.

Where the History Lives on Campus

The museum's place-based exhibits and interpretive programs are spread across several historic structures and outdoor spaces:

The museum store sells rock and mineral specimens and gifts related to regional history.

Planning Around the Season

The single most important fact for a visit: the museum is closed November 1 through April 30, and the tour season runs May through October. If you want the underground mine tour and train ride, plan for that window and check the programs and special events page for winter offerings. The mine tour takes about an hour, so budget time for the galleries and outdoor grounds as well.

The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums in southwestern Wisconsin offer a guided one-hour underground tour of the 1845 Bevans Lead-Zinc Mine, a ride on a 1931 mine train (weather permitting), exhibits on regional natural and cultural history, and outdoor spaces including a pollinator garden and picnic grounds. The key condition for a visit is timing: the museum is closed from November 1 through April 30, and the tour season runs May through October. Special winter programming is listed separately under the programs and special events section.

The Underground Mine Tour

The centerpiece is the 1845 Bevans Mine, entered by walking down a 90-step incline. The museum notes that temperature and humidity change as you descend, so the underground portion is a sensory experience as well as a historical one. The tour covers more than 100 years of local lead and zinc mining history, and a visit to the headframe shows how ore was hoisted to the surface and hand-sorted.

Practical points to plan around:

• Duration: about one hour for the guided underground tour.
• Location: the mine entrance is in the backyard of the museum campus.
• Access: the 90-step incline is the route in, which matters for anyone with mobility concerns.

The Mine Train

Climb into an ore car for a train ride across the three-acre campus, pulled by a 1931 Whitcomb locomotive that was used at the Blackstone Mine near Shullsburg until the 1950s. The museum reports the train has carried more than 300,000 adults and children since 1978. Rides depend on the weather, so treat the train as a likely but not guaranteed part of the visit.

Exhibits and Buildings

The campus spreads across several historically significant structures, each with its own role:

The exhibit galleries, founded in 1964, hold a collection of regional mining artifacts and dioramas described as among the largest in the Upper Midwest. Displays explain Mississippi Valley-Type lead-zinc ore deposits and how local mining led to Wisconsin's nickname as the Badger State. Cultural history exhibits drawn from folk historian Rollo Jamison's one-man collection cover rural life in the region, with objects ranging from cigar molds and bull halters to hair wreaths.

Shopping and Grounds

The museum store sells rock and mineral specimens along with gifts related to regional history. Outside, visitors are encouraged to use the greenspace, pollinator garden, and picnic grounds, which makes the campus workable as a longer stop rather than a quick tour.

Deciding Whether to Go

The museum suits visitors interested in industrial and mining history, geology, or regional rural culture, and families looking for a combined indoor-outdoor outing. Two conditions shape the decision:

• Season: plan between May and October for the mine tour and train; check the programs and special events listings for winter offerings.
• Weather: the train runs weather permitting, so build some flexibility into the day.

Tickets are sold through the museum's website, and the site's "Buy Tickets" prompt is the starting point for booking.

The museum's website offers a Buy Tickets option on its home page, and that is the entry point to use for booking a visit. Before buying, confirm two things: the museum is closed November 1 through April 30, with the tour season running May through October, and the mine train ride operates weather permitting. Tickets are for the guided underground mine tour and campus visit; the site does not publish prices or say whether advance online purchase is required, so treat the Buy Tickets link as the starting point and confirm details there.

Step-by-step: buying tickets

1. Go to the museum website at mining.jamison.museum.
2. Find the "Buy Tickets" link on the home page, shown alongside the "Your Underground Adventure Awaits!" heading.
3. Choose your visit date inside the tour season (May–October). If you are planning a trip between November 1 and April 30, the museum is closed; check the Programs and Special Events section for winter programming instead.
4. Complete the purchase through the ticket flow linked from the site. The site does not list prices, so the amount due will appear during the ticket process.
5. Keep your confirmation and bring it on the day of your visit.

Expected result: a confirmed ticket for your chosen date, which you present on arrival for the one-hour guided mine tour.

What your ticket covers

The mine tour and train are the two experiences most likely to fill a visit, so plan around the tour time you book.

Common snags to check before you pay

• Off-season dates. Tickets for a November–April visit will not work because the museum is closed then. Look at winter programming separately.
• Train availability. The train runs weather permitting, so a ticket does not guarantee a ride on a rainy or snowy day. The mine tour is the core booked experience.
• Accessibility of the mine. The entrance is a 90-step incline with changing temperature and humidity underground; consider whether everyone in your group can manage the descent before buying.
• Group or special-event visits. The site points to a Programs and Special Events section; if you want a school group, event, or winter program, check there rather than the standard ticket link.

If you only want to browse

You do not need a ticket to use the website to plan. The home page describes the three-acre campus near the world's largest "M," the history of the Upper Mississippi Valley Mining District, and the Rollo Jamison cultural-history collection. Use that material to decide whether the mine tour fits your trip, then return to Buy Tickets when your dates are set.