In 1990 the Hutchinson Salt Company was formed and purchased the mine. Smith, Jay. Nearly everyone uses some type of evaporated salt every day. [24]) The three scientists were at the museum for the exhibit opening and collected salt samples from the Hutchinson mine for further research.

Journey into a raw portion of the salt mine where virtually everything is exactly as it was left over 50 years ago. It has limited applications because water makes Saltcrete blister and disintegrate. The miners would then advance 15 feet (4.6 m) and pour the shaft's concrete liner. They would either evaporate brine or dip the meat in pools of strong brine and then dry it in the sunshine or by a fire. Rock salt was first mined in Hutchinson in 1888, using solution mining (a mining method that pumps water down wells to dissolve the salt), when two wells and a salt factory were put into operation. By 1891, underground mines (using a mining method similar to underground coal mining) produced salt at Lyons, Kingman, and Kanopolis. “Reno County’s Museum.” Legacy: The Journal of the Reno County Historical Society, Fall 1989: vol. [15] For efficient construction without water seepage, the aquifer was frozen. 5. When finely ground, it is used for feeding livestock. Donate today to help Strataca continue as an adventure worth its salt. Salt was sold in nearby Seapo, and hauled to Manhattan, where it sold for as much as ten cents per pound.

Russell Vreeland, William Rosenzweig, and Dennis Powers. Stretching 27,000 miles, the Hutchinson salt mines are among the largest deposits of salt across the entire U.S., and they were formed nearly 300 million years ago. Salt. [5], The Reno County Historical Society was organized by thirteen interested citizens in 1960, and received its charter from the Kansas Historical Society in 1961.

“The Permian.” UCMP – University of California Museum of Paleontology. Mantrips are train-like vehicles. The material used for much of the museum flooring is very similar to concrete; but instead of sand, salt is used with the cement and water. The next pillar of the Mining Gallery is the blast area, which illustrates how the room being mined is wired with explosives. A liquid nitrogen and salt brine solution pumped into the pipes brought the temperature down to freeze the aquifer. Haven Journal, “Reno County Historical Society To Have Headquarters In Haven: Museum Will Be Located In Township Hall,” August 31, 1967, sec. The Permian Wellington Formation is one of the largest in the world, and the purest portion of the salt vein is 650 feet underground and is ... Salt Discovery. In 1984, the Reno County Historical Society's Board of Directors began a campaign to bring the museum back to the more heavily populated city of Hutchinson – which is also the county seat of Reno County. A vast expanse underground, the Hutchinson Salt Company mine covers about 980 acres. Purchase your gift card today and redeem it on your next visit! Thyssen utilized the expertise of Moretrench American Corporation for the ground freezing. Web. In 1996 and 1997, the museum redesigned its public space to include five exhibit galleries, two children's interactive areas, a research room, and the Houston Whiteside Conference Room, named for one of the society's benefactors. That allowed miners to dig through the aquifer and encase the shaft in concrete. Since 1923, Hutchinson Salt Company (formerly Carey Salt) has produced rock salt by the room and pillar mining fashion, which begins with a shaft sunk through the overlying rock to the salt deposit. Early hunters visited the salt marshes to jerk buffalo meat. With the ready availability of the salt, it is definitely practical and cost effective for the museum. We … Circ.

If one were to consecutively line up each excavated area, the chamber would stretch for 150 miles (240 km). Fully loaded it carries four tons of salt and makes a round trip every three minutes. 8, no. 28 December 2010. [16] Community leaders believed the museum would provide an anchor for downtown growth and the development of tourism in Haven. Inf. The museum is built within one of the world's largest deposits of rock salt and provides the opportunity to go 650 feet (200 m) beneath the Earth’s surface. Visitors ride in a double-deck elevator that holds fifteen people on each level.[19]. [9] In 1989, the museum began publishing ‘’Legacy: The Journal of the Reno County Historical Society’’. In fact, when the elevator transported people, salt production below had to stop. [3] Water is forced down a pipe into the salt deposit where it dissolves into brine which is pumped to the surface and heated to the point of evaporation, leaving behind a high grade of salt.