Museum and Gold Leaf Specimen
Established as a tribute to the Gold Rush, the Heritage Museum presents artifacts from 19th century gold mining and the Miwoks, early Native American inhabitants, the Miwoks. Featuring a huge wall mural photo of miners in the field, the Heritage Museum includes photos, mining maps, personal articles carried from the "Old Countries" around the world, and other artifacts. There are examples of letters written by miners to family and friends back home.
The focal point of Ironstone's Heritage Museum is the largest Crystalline Gold Leaf specimen in the world. Weighing forty-four pounds, this specimen of gold was discovered by the Sonora Mining Company on Christmas Day, in 1992, fifteen miles from its current home at Ironstone. Crystalline Gold is one of the most rare and precious natural gold formations consisting of gold that has been deposited in layers between quartz, clay, maraposite, decomposed shale and pyrite.
The “Gold Pocket”, as it has come to be known, is 98 percent pure, making it a specimen of exceedingly high quality and value. Sixty-three pounds before preparation, it spent almost a year in an acid bath, washing away most of the surrounding matrix to ultimately reveal the forty-four pound specimen on display at the winery. The stone entrance to the crystalline gold display is reminiscent of an early "forty-niners" gold mine with its massive stone face and broad beam construction.
The Heritage Museum also features a vast display of natural gold specimens acquired from modern-day prospectors who are still very active in the Sierra Foothills.
Ironstone's Heritage Museum hosts school children from throughout California and the world, welcoming them as they visit to learn about California's early history. For more information about school tours to the Heritage Museum, phone (209) 728-1251 x47.
Visitors to the museum can purchase a wide choice of books and educational materials, as well as artifacts and souvenirs for the young and young at heart.
Heritage Museum & Jewelry Shoppe Hours:
Hours:
11:00 am to 5:00 pm Wednesday - Monday (closed on Tuesday)
Closed:
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day
Interesting Facts
Crystalline Gold Leaf specimen
Ironstone's Heritage Museum features the largest Crystalline Gold Leaf specimen in the world, weighing in at 44 pounds.
Moorcroft (photo of Queen's Choice vase)
Handmade pottery from Stoke-on-Trent, England. The Queen's Choice style is only one of many designs available.
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