BUTTE — Tourists can come and experience what it was like for Butte’s early miners at the Orphan Girl Mine and now, thanks to a generous grant, it's going to be an even more enjoyable experience.
“It really just brings you back in time, it is the best part of the museum, and I’m not being biased on that, because it really helps tell the story of mining,” World Museum of Mining Director Jeanette Kopf said.
WATCH: Going underground at Butte's historic Orphan Girl Mine! This authentic 1875 mine just received major upgrades
The World Museum of Mining received about $245,000 in grants and donations from the Town Pump Charitable Foundation to upgrade the Orphan Girl.
“I mean, the mine’s actually in excellent shape itself, but with time, air, water, you know, granite decomposes, so it takes effect on stuff, so just coming in doing regular maintenance, keeping everything up to date and safe," Museum grounds manager Michael Kopf said.
The mine is open for tours throughout the year. The 100-foot level has also been upgraded for a summer concert series that will be held every Tuesday beginning in June.
“And put in all the locally sourced Doug fir wood, and it was actually milled here on site and finished down here, and trying to copy as much as what they did originally back in the day,” Michael Kopf said.
The mine operated from 1875 to 1956, and it’s important for the museum to keep it open and as authentic as possible for those who visit it.
“You feel the atmosphere that they were working, and it just really brings you back in time; you can almost feel those miners down at that 100-foot level station because it’s where they worked. It’s where they earned their living,” Jeanette Kopf said.
