From the bottom of Mount Roberts to Vanderbilt Road, Juneau is built on the remnants left over from AJ Mine. The tools needed to extract those precious metals over a century ago decorate our museums, lawns and recreation areas, always reminding us where we came from. Now, however, they need our help.
Enter David Harvey.
Harvey is an expert blacksmith who consults with museums and private parties across the country to offer tips and methods on how to better preserve and protect tools and machines left over from the mining era. He was in town earlier this week and gave a presentation at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library. The presentation included a detailed history of Juneau’s mining past and offered insight into the problem at hand.
“The iron that was used in making these tools was some of the best at the time, but these parts were never meant to last this long,” Harvey said during his presentation.
Harvey was able to be in Juneau and give his expert opinion due to a grant offered by the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.
“The grant allowed us to pay for Mr. Harvey to come up and take a look at some of the tools that we have from Juneau’s mining history and discuss ways of how to better protect and store them,” director of the museum Jane Lindsey said.
“Southeast Alaska in particular presents certain challenges that aren’t found in other places,” Harvey said when addressing the problems the community faces in protecting its relics. “Salt water and iron don’t mix.”
The Last Chance Mining Museum has among its collection some of Juneau’s most iconic mining tools. “Mr. Harvey was here for most of Wednesday going over our collection,” co-owner of the Last Chance Mining Museum Renee Hughes said. “Our collection seems to keep growing as people around town begin to understand what it takes to conserve these pieces in this climate.” That’s understandable considering that not only is Southeast Alaska a saltwater environment with its channels and waterways, but rain is a frequent visitor.
To anyone who has an old gear wheel or mine car hanging around their yard, they can write David Harvey and ask him what they could do to help ensure future generations get to admire relics from our mining town days (IDigDeadPeople@gmail.com). For a local source of information, the folks from the Last Chance Mining Museum could offer advice.
Remember, anytime you find yourself walking downtown you’re actually walking on Juneau’s history, and it’s worth protecting.
• Freelancer Alex Marvel lives in Juneau.
