Attraction: Ducktown Basin Museum

Happy Thursday Y’all!

As we got moved in, my wife decided we were staying closer to home so off to Polk County we went to see the Ducktown Basin Museum housed at the top of the old Burra Burra Mine.

I hadn’t been here since I was a little older than Arch 5 and man has it grown in.  When I was a kid, there was virtually no vegetation as far as you could see which is why they called it the Red Hills. The museum houses a short but neat video telling the story of the mine as well as a history portion containing relics from years past.

There are remnants everywhere including old rail buckets, generators and buildings that let you see a small piece of what the copper boom was all about that turned the area from nothing into a dynamo, albeit one with terrible pollution.  The museum tells how the mine was eventually closed and the remediation that has taken place to allow for wildlife and vegetation to return.  Telling history truthfully is important. When the mines closed, thousands of jobs were lost that have yet to be replaced but the environment has recovered with vigor in their absence.

Truly a worthwhile adventure and so nice to see the positives changes.

Y’all go be Tennesseans this week and learn about the history of your great state!