News Release: 10/10/2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Christina Grev, Education and Collections Specialist
The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums
Phone: (608) 348-3401
Email: muscolmgr@platteville.org  
 
Platteville’s Spookiest Halloween Tradition
PLATTEVILLE, Wis., October 10, 2024 — Celebrate Halloween at The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums! Descend deep into the 1845 Bevans Mine for a guided tour illuminated by candles and lanterns to discover historical truths that are stranger than fiction. The Museum continues the annual tradition of Haunted Mine Tours this fall on Saturday, October 26^th, from 5-9 p.m., with tours departing every 30 minutes.
Our region is replete with spooky stories that blend real life and the supernatural, retold by the rowdy, tough, and dangerous men whose job it was to mine lead and zinc. Migrants from American frontiers and immigrants from Cornwall and other Celtic lands brought their lore and stories with them. What more fitting place to experience the spine-tingling chills of ghost stories than 50 feet underground in a real 1845 lead mine by lantern-light at The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums?
When the Cornish miners came to America in the 1830s to dig the grey gold, they brought with them their belief in the tommyknocker. These small dwarf-like creatures worked in the mines, tapping away, and making strange noises deep in the rocks. They were often heard, but rarely seen. One unlucky miner named Eddie became a target of the Tommyknockers. They drove him crazy, pelting him with stones, stealing his tools, and blowing out his lantern. He couldn't figure out why the Tommyknockers had singled him out until one day he heard a voice calling to him from the dark opening of a nearby shaft. “Eddie, I want my five dollars!” Hear this and other stories at the Haunted Mine Tour.
Tickets sell out fast, so book your Haunted Mine Tour now by visiting www.mining.jamison.museum/programs or calling (608) 348-3301. Ticket prices for Haunted Mine Tours are: General (Ages 13+) - $20, Seniors (Ages 65+) - $16, Youth (6-12 years old) - $12. Not recommended for children under 6. We dare you to try out Platteville’s most popular underground Halloween event!
The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums are located on Main Street in Platteville, Wisconsin, in the heart of the historic Upper Mississippi Valley lead-zinc mining region. Founded in 1964, the museum is a nearly three-acre campus with scenic greenspace, an underground 1845 Bevans Mine, and a 1930s-era narrow-gauge mine railroad pulled by a 1931 Whitcomb locomotive. The mission of the Museum is to continue in the pursuit of excellence in the areas of regional and mining history. To achieve that purpose, the Museum is commissioned to be custodians of the past; to interpret the rich lead and zinc mining heritage of the region, as well as to preserve, interpret, and display the artifacts that define Southwest Wisconsin. The Museum is open Wednesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., from May to October. Cultural programs and special events are offered year-round. Follow The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums on Facebook @MiningJamisonMuseum and visit our website atwww.mining.jamison.museum for more information on current and upcoming programs.
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