Franklin Mineral Museum - Replica Mine and Fluorescent Room

Franklin, New Jersey

Franklin is the "Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World," and thousands of rockhounds still clamber over the heaps at the old Buckwheat Mineral Dump looking for glowing nuggets (Ken and Doug recall frustrating childhood field trips, where other kids' dads were equipped with portable fluorescent detection equipment!).

In front of the Franklin Mineral Museum, a miner statue commemorates the region's successful zinc industry from 1850 to 1954. The museum tells us that "357 different mineral species" were found in the zinc deposits.

While the museum's large rock collection is most interesting to mineral fans, the place has some mildly fun elements. There's a fake 2-story deep zinc mine that exhibits historic mining equipment, with a couple of miner mannequins.

The museum's most radiant treasure is in the Fluorescent Mineral Room. With the lights out, the wall of willemite, franklinite, larsenite, pectolite, calcite, hedyphane and other minerals glow under ultraviolet light, or give off a phosphorescent glow long after all lights are extinguished. Crushed stone "paintings" of animals and flowers are arrayed along the wall. A red and green glowing sphere of willemite and calcite looks like a gift the space aliens left behind.