• Thursday-What'sUP September 16 - 01:29 am

When Paul and Nathalie Brandes visited the Keweenaw recently, they had to make a stop at the new A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum, which opened its doors on July 5th, with the gift shop and two of the galleries (The Beauty of Minerals and the Copper Country), available for viewing. The entire operation is expected to be completed and open to the public in the Spring of 2012. In the meantime, you can get a look-see here today, of some of the completed area and a few of the specimens.

I think the most interesting one is the last item. Paul said that it is a copper fan, which was made by Copper Country miners, to give to VIP's and dignitaries of the mining companies when they would come to visit on occasion. Looks like this is going to be something special to see, once it's all completed.

Thanks to Capt. Paul and Dr. Nat for the virtual tour.

Very nice. My hubby would love this. Where is it located?

I've always wanted to go there! Guess I'll wait until next year when the museum is finished. I wonder how many of those copper fans were made?

WOW....amazing! Thanks Cap't and Doc!

The museum is part of Michigan Tech. It moved "up the hill". It is near the SDC (hockey & basketball, etc) and the tennis courts, on that side of the street, with parking in a small strip mall. We saw it when we were up there in August, but we did not have time to go inside, unfortunately. The photos look beautiful. And, from the looks of it, I need to stay away from the gift shop, as it has too many beautiful things. It would be so hard to choose just one thing.

I don't think I ever saw this museum when I was growing up there. My husband and I went a couple of years ago and I was amazed at the quality of the specimans. This collection definately deserves this new building and location. I hope it will be better utilized by the community.

Interesting artifacts! Capt. Paul and Dr. Nat, I have a question, especially about "T Rex", etc....a science teacher I had in high school said that there are no 'real' prehistoric 'finds' like that (meaning a full head/body/foot), but that a bone may be found and the rest of the creature is molded around that bone. Is this true? TIA :)

This site usally has some sort of educational expierence on a daily basis and is especially good for an out of towner like me, keep up the good work....

I am wondering, area both Capt Paul and Dr. Nat in the field of geology? And where did Dr. Nat give her presentation to the kids? Texas?
Just curious.
The pictures are great today. Reminds me of the days when I would go rock hunting. Actually copper hunting. Some of the poor rock piles had pure copper among the rubble. You could peer into the large rocks and then find pieces of copper sticking out from a rock. Then bend it until it breaks loose.
Must have some of that stuff around in my junk somewhere.

Looks like the new museum is really nice. Hope The Doc & Capt. had a good trip home!

Wow, I just got out of class, checked the pastcam, and saw these familiar photos. Thank you to everyone for your nice comments. I hope you have a great day!

Shirly,
Although not common, complete and nearly complete skeletons of animals can be found. The T-rex skull that we displayed in Houghton was a cast of the real one on display at the Field Museum in Chicago. That T-rex, known as Sue, is the most complete T-rex skeleton ever found.

Tom,
Both Paul and I work in geology. The photos of me in the classroom of kids were taken when I worked at the University in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I sometimes gave special presentations to grammar school classes.

Brooke,
We did have a good trip back to Texas. But our trip home will be the next time we get back to the Keweenaw!

The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum is so much more than what appears here. Only a tiny portion of the museum’s 27,000 specimens can be displayed even in its new home seen here. As one of the largest and most comprehensive mineral museums in North America, it has also been known as the Michigan Mineral Museum. It is nearly as old as Michigan Tech which of course started as The Michigan Mining School located in the Houghton fire hall in 1886. There it started out as a laboratory filled with mineral specimens. It was housed in various locations until 1931 when it found a more permanent home occupying the entire top floor of Hotchkiss Hall. This is where I came to know it as an electrical engineering student from 1972 to 1976 since Hotchkiss Hall also housed the Electrical Engineering department. In 1976-77 it moved to the present Electrical Energy building until moving this year to its present new home on top of the hill. There is talk that when the Quincy Mine facilities are further renovated it will eventually move to that site, presumably as part of the National Park Service.

Thank you, Dr. Nat, I've heard of "Sue" but have never known where "she" was found, do you have that information? You and the Capt. certainly are involved in interesting vocations! Enjoyed your web-site.

Shirley,

Sue was found in western South Dakota in 1990 by Sue Hendrickson and her team of paleontologists from the Black Hills Institute. In addition to the most complete skeleton found, Sue is also the largest T-Rex ever discovered. When assembled, she measured 40 feet long from nose to tail, and over 12 feet tall at the hips.

It is truly unfortunate that the museum wasn't located at the Quincy Mine in a much larger building and right on U.S. 41 where it was originally planned. It would have been a huge tourist attraction at the Quincy location.

Daveofmohawk (Daveofmohawk):
"It is truly unfortunate that the museum wasn't located at the Quincy Mine in a much larger building and right on U.S. 41 where it was originally planned. It would have been a huge tourist attraction at the Quincy location."

The last I heard that's still the plan, with the new building in today's pictures as just an interim location. Have you heard anything different?

More information about the long term plans for the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum may be found (click → ) here, where you will find the following [emphasis is mine]:

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Quote:

"The long term plan is for the Seaman Mineral Museum to be located near the Quincy Mine and Hoist in Hancock, MI, however this move is subject to funding. The relocation of the Seaman Mineral Museum was most recently initiated by a plan to renovate the fifth floor of the Electrical Engineering Resource Center. The space that was once home to the Seaman Mineral Museum is now being redesigned to provide a space, known as the Center for Computer Systems Research, for students and faculty of the electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science departments to collaborate and conduct research."

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Frnash ... thanks for the link to the MTU ParentNet article regarding the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum history at MTU ... very informative and well-written.

Marianne ... I agree with you about the gift shop ... so many beautiful and unique pieces to be found there! ;-)