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Feldspar, Quartz, Mica
Museum on the Blue Ridge Parkway has retooled to display North Carolina's rich lode of minerals
Photo Courtesy of the Museum of North Carolina Minerals
The Museum of North Carolina Minerals is at milepost 331 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Spruce Pine.
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Published: November 22, 2008
SPRUCE PINE - Think of it as a cross between Stonehenge and Hard Rock Cafe.
The Museum of North Carolina Minerals at milepost 331 on the Blue Ridge Parkway was renovated in 2003 with two goals in mind.
One was to continue to display the rock and mineral specimens that were here far longer than any of the current staff can recall. The other was to add in some neon, some arcade-style game formats designed to capture the attention of the younger set.
Outside the door is a small rock garden that might be suitable for a Druid celebration of the summer solstice. Inside, the yawning mouth of a cave bears a certain resemblance to several Hollywood sets of recent memory.
Jonathan Bennett, a "Parks As Classroom Coordinator" in a park-ranger uniform, says that the cave is made of Styrofoam -- it actually looks a lot like the rock-climbing walls now seen just about everywhere -- because the old wooden floors of the museum wouldn't support real rock that large.
"The museum was opened in 1955," he said. "It was an idea that was born in the local community, because Spruce Pine mining district is one of the richest mining districts in the country. The three main minerals mined here are feldspar, quartz and mica."
Even as manufacturing and technology have advanced, these three local mainstays have maintained the pace. "Originally, mica was most sought after because it was a key component in making transistors," he said. "When microchips took over, the big thing now is quartz to make the silicone for the microchips."
Feldspar is used in a vast spectrum of applications, including the manufacture of most bathroom fixtures -- not a thing that will likely fall from fashion.
"Last I heard, we were the world's leading producer of feldspar, and we're somewhere close to being the world's leading producer of quartz," Bennett said.
Emeralds have also been found in the area, and garnets have turned up in nearby Yancey County.
That big hulk of Styrofoam at the entrance to the exhibits is a model of the fault found at Linville Falls, about 15 miles north on the parkway.
The first gold rush was in North Carolina, many years before that other one in California.
"Over 300 minerals are found in North Carolina, and over 100 have some economic value," Bennett said.
For the aspiring prospector, a map of the state illustrates where to look.
Bennett explained that the exhibits were overhauled because accepted ideas of geology have drifted farther than most continental plates.
"Geology theory had moved way beyond what our exhibits showed," Bennett said.
"The theory of continental drift had not gained any acceptance (in 1955), so we updated to current standards as to what geologists believe, and we also made it much more hands-on."
The current format also takes into consideration North Carolina's fourth-grade geology curriculum, thereby inviting and enticing a steady stream of school field trips.
Senior groups are just as likely to arrive by tour bus, and if they call ahead, they can schedule a guide to walk them through the museum.
For the young at heart, the rangers often create a custom-made scavenger hunt.
The museum is situated in a community utterly devoted to gems and minerals. All along N.C. 226 from the parkway to Spruce Pine are jewelry shops, rock shops and mines that invite the public to sift through buckets of sludge in search of hidden treasure.
A festival in early August attracts rock hounds from across the nation.
■ Lois Carol Wheatley writes for the Bristol (Va.) News.
■ The museum's Web site is http://nps.gov/blri. Numerous other Web sites, most of them devoted to the Blue Ridge Parkway, also offer information about the museum. For more information, call the museum at 828-765-1228 or 828-765-2761.
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