The Ruggles Mine - yours for $2million
A historic New Hampshire open-pit mine, now a tourist attraction, is up for sale.
The Ruggles Mine, a producer of mica and other minerals for over 160 years and now a tourist attraction in New England, is up for auction – for a cool US$2million.
Discovered in 1803 by Sam Ruggles, the mine was kept hidden and used to transport the mica mineral to Portsmouth and then over to England. The minerals were used for ship windows and whale-oil lamps.
In 1960 the husband of current site owner Geraldine Searles purchased the mine for $20,000 in a bid to continue the mine operations. The government stopped subsidising the minerals industry, leaving the mine struggling to compete with international markets and forcing Mr Searles to reconsider how to proceed with the mineral resource mine. The decision was made to turn the mine into a tourist attraction and the rest is history.
Read: From mine to tourist attraction
The mine, which has been a popular attraction for school groups, is currently run by Searles and her family, but she concedes it is time to move on.
“It's just time for me to stop working," said Searles.
“I just hope that someone who purchases it knows the value it has had for all the generations that have gone through there." She added.
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