Independence Mine is an Alaska State Historical Park. There is more information about the gold-mine's history in an earlier post from while we were on the road (HERE). This is more about the structures on the old mine site.
This pretty chain-link fence bordered the walkway to the Visitor Center, which is in what was the Mine Supervisor's home when this was an active gold mine.
As we walked toward the Center, some of the other mine buildings were visible. … housing and offices for the various occupations and professions that it took to run this kind of operation.
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This is a view from the Visitor Center window… It would have been the Supervisor's living room window … he and his family could have sat in comfort and seen quite a bit of the site.
(From all accounts, he was a good supervisor well-liked by the people who worked there.)
A few more of the buildings are open to the public and there are great informational posters in the Center and along the pathways. We also walked up the hill to where the actual mining operations took place.
The fencing here really didn't seem quite adequate to protect visitors. Notice the people on the left of the picture — no fence at all between them and the mine-shaft ruins.
Poignant and almost elegant in decay, not to mention hazardous. We were surprised (but pleased) that the State has left these ruins standing for the public to see.
LINKING TO OUR WORLD on TUESDAY (thank you to Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sylvia and Sandy) to Roan's RUBBISH TUESDAY and Tex's GOOD FENCES. Thank you all.
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