Rock Swapping at Missouri Mines State Historic Site (and BOGO for Lunch!)

Have you ever driven by something almost your whole life and never stopped to check it out?  I’ve driven past this for the past 35 years:

The Missouri Mines State Historical Site in Park Hills, MO

When you live in an area called the Leadbelt that has towns named Leadwood, Leadington, Iron Mountain Lake, Irondale, Ironton, Mine la Motte, Old Mines, Rivermines, etc., one gets used to seeing the remnants of the area’s mining history. Up until recently, “chat dumps” (lead waste that didn’t make the cut when mining for lead-zinc) were the tallest features in many of our local communities.

As I said, I’d driven past these particular mines almost everyday of my life and never really drove up to see what the site had to offer. On a whim yesterday I decided to drive up in hopes of getting my State Park passport stamped. When I got off the highway and turned into the park entrance, I was greeted by a sign that said “Rock Swap.” I’ve heard of rock swaps but never attended one, but I have one little boy in particular, August, who loves to collect rocks everywhere we go. So I decided to turn around there and rescue them from their video games for the afternoon. I came home and told them to quickly get ready, what they wore wasn’t really important (we were just going to check out a few old people selling rocks), and we headed out.

When we entered the park officially, I was first blown away by the number of rock vendors in the parking lot and how many visitors were already there. Apparently this was a bigger deal then I had imagined. At that point I looked down at my ragtag looking boys and thought, we look homeless. Oakley was wearing his crocs, sweatpants, and an old Hooters shirt, signed by Hooters girls, that belonged to Tanner 13 years ago!!

Before checking out the rock vendors, we decided to find the park office and get my passport signed. I was then met with another surprise…a museum! While I stopped at the main office, Tanner and August kept poking their head inside the museum doors and saying, “Mom, we need to check this out,” “can we go in?” (Of course we did!)

One room was filled with old mining equipment and machines that were used underground. Don’t ask me what they all were or how they were used, but let me just say that it took a lot of different kind of HEAVY equipment to mine that precious lead and other minerals out of the ground!

I was mostly interested in the second room of the museum that contained display case after display case of rocks!! They were beautiful!! To think that we are walking on and around these gorgeous pieces of rock daily, amazes me!

I’d never imagined a “rock museum” could go fascinating, but it was. There were rocks that looked like crystals, stained glass, some that glowed, and even a piece of a meteorite, one of the most rare rocks, that came from a meteorite that hit near Ste. Genevieve in the late 1800s! Oh, and polished petrified wood is the amazing!!

Outside, one can walk around the outskirts of the mining buildings, but you can’t go in them. You are provided a map to help identify each building. And just a FYI, when an open gate has a sign that says “No Access,” just because it’s open it still means “No Access.” Oops!!

After checking out the museum we headed to the actual rock swap. I’ve never seen so many “prized” rocks before. All different shapes, sizes, and colors were represented. I saw vendors from as far away as New York! You could wheel and deal and try to “swap rocks” with people or just sell outright. I saw prices range from 0.50 to $900!! Some rocks looked “otherworldly.” For example, there were rocks from New Zealand that looked like they were from Cybertron! (Boymoms know what I’m talking about!)

One vendor even had the different “steps” displayed to get her rocks from, well rocks, to slabs, to the final product called “cabs.”  (Cabs is short for something else that I can’t remember)

We wandered around for quite awhile before it was time to go. It was a neat experience that I’m almost ashamed to admit I hadn’t done before. If you love history or cool rocks, go check out the rock swap at the Missouri Mines State Historical Site. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

And if you like to walk or ride bikes, the trail of St. Joe State Park can be accessed here too!

Afterwards we headed to our favorite sandwich shop in downtown Farmington: BOGO! Don’t let the name deceive you, it’s not “Buy One Get One.” It’s even be. It’s “Buy One GIVE One!” For every sandwich that is sold, they give a sandwich to a local food pantry or other organizations that feed the hungry! Wow!! Besides, you can’t get a fresher sandwich made, with local ingredients, with a side of Pepperoncini chips and Crush Peach soda!!

Lesson for the day: Don’t ignore or take for granted those parks and historical sites in your neighborhood! There’s some cool stuff right in our backyards!!

Is there something near you that you’ve never checked out or just recently did that you would recommend to others? For how long did you ignore it before seeing what it was all about?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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