"If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday." (Pearl Buck)
A visit to the museum.
In another life, it was the headquarters for the mining operations of Tennessee Copper Company and its successor, Cities Service Company.
Today, the old mine office building at Burra Burra is filled with the artifacts and memories of those mining operations. You'll probably want to start with the short audiovisual presentation, just to get a historical overview. Then, either with a museum guide or on your own, it's time to go exploring.
You may already have started, in fact: in the area bordering the parking lot, where the museum's larger artifacts are on display and where the collapsed and flooded portion of the Burra Burra mine works are still visible from the overlook. But that really is just the beginning.
Inside, artifacts, exhibits and photos will transport you back to a time when the copper beneath these hills was known only to the native Cherokee tribes. From there, you'll move on to discover more about the area's now-legendary mining and sulfuric acid industries, the thriving communities that grew up around them, and the human beings who made it all happen.
To schedule a group tour, call us any time during normal business hours. If your group has a particular interest (geology, for instance, or a visit geared to a younger school group), just let us know.
For a charge of $15 per person, the museum offers a mineral collecting area that is open and accessible during normal hours of operation. The ore piles are located in a gated area nearby owned by Glenn Springs Holdings, Inc. The museum does not supply any tools or supplies for collecting; visitors are responsible for bringing their own gear.
We hope to see you soon.
