Plan Your Trip

Both. Since 1964 the museum has always existed as a department of the City of Platteville; however, since 2017 the Friends of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums nonprofit organization is responsible for raising a significant share of its annual operating and capital expenses. A Platteville referendum approved funding the excavation of the Bevans Mine and, in 1976, the mine and headframe were opened to the public. In 1980, Platteville referendum expanded the museum to include the Rollo Jamison Museum, which opened to the public in 1981. The museum operates on a lean budget with only one full-time employee and a talented crew of part-time staff members. We are very grateful to our visitors, donors and members for enabling the museum to continue bringing our region’s history to life and for preserving our pioneering legacy! Learn more about supporting the museum: www.mining.jamison.museum/support.

Mine Tours are available Wednesday - Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday) May through October. In the off-season, self-guided museum admission (exhibit galleries only) and Private Mine Tours are available by advance reservation. We also offer special events and programs year-round. The administrative office is open year-round.

A train ride, weather permitting, is included in the price of the Mine Tour and museum admission. In the case of rain or other unexpected circumstances, visitors will be issued a rain check entitling them to a train ride on another day. Under no circumstance will we operate the train in unsafe conditions, at the discretion of museum staff.

Exhibits in the Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums are wheelchair accessible. There are 90 steps to get into and out of the 1845 Bevans Mine and stairs in the Headframe building. There is a video tour available for those who can’t or choose not to take the stairs into the mine or up into the headframe. There is a wheelchair available free of charge at the front desk on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Temperatures in the mine stay in the range of 50-70 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on surface temperatures. Drops of crystal clear groundwater are also commonly present in the mine, depending on seasonal rainfall. For this reason, guests might consider bringing a fleece, light jacket or long-sleeve shirt to supplement their hardhat, which serves as an umbrella.

The mine tour typically lasts around an hour. Visitor engagement with the tour guide can make the tour a bit shorter or longer, depending on pace and the number of questions.

Many visitors spend about an hour on a self-guided museum tour. However, some people spend much longer to absorb all the fascinating content. Visitors are welcome to stay as long or short a time as they like, until closing time.

Admission ticket prices include a self-guided tour of the interior exhibits on the natural history, cultural history, and science and industry of the region, a guided Mine Tour (offered a certain number of times daily at set times), and an outdoor train ride (weather permitting). You can also enjoy the outdoor greenspace, pollinator garden, and picnic grounds of the three-acre museum campus.

Visitors can purchase their own new souvenir hardhat to wear on tour for $10, or wear a loaned hardhat at no additional charge. These loaned hardhats are cleaned and disinfected after each use with a product designed to kill microbes, including the COVID-19 virus.

We are approximately: 70 miles/1 hour, 15 minutes from Madison, Wisconsin. 22 miles/23 minutes from Dubuque, Iowa. 25 miles/35 minutes from Galena, Illinois.

Street parking is available along Main Street and Virgin Avenue. Handicap and coach bus parking is available behind the museum off Virgin Avenue.

Yes. Visitors can shop for rock and mineral specimens, books and gifts related to regional history, and STEAM-related educational toys and games in our museum store.

No, although our Museum Store does carry cold soft drinks and mining-related treats like Rock Candy, ChocoRocks and Pop-Rocks. Ticketed visitors are welcome to enjoy our outdoor picnic tables, or else we can recommend this link to find the perfect Platteville restaurant: https://www.platteville.com/visit/dining.

The City of Platteville has made a map available to help locate possible historic mining activities. Please contact Museum Director Erik Flesch for more information.