Mining & Minerals

The Mining Exhibit is located in the basement of the Van Kirk Homestead Museum.

Opened in October 2019,  this permanent exhibit features original Edison artifacts, a scale model of Limecrest Quarry, and a large fluorescent mineral display. Through these and other rare artifacts, the exhibit explores the town’s mines and the people who worked at them. Housed in the 1780 section of the Van Kirk Homestead Museum, expect insights into, and understanding of, the past which supplements our understanding of our once primary iron and lime industry in Sparta and elsewhere in Sussex County. It also provides a glimpse into the time-consuming, labor-intensive methods used in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries to prepare, and ship minerals.

This exhibit has been generously underwritten by Braen Stone Industries.