There's a world going on, underground.

April 4, 2005 10:18 AM

Detroit: city of auto manufacture, crime, Motown and... mining? Take this with a grain of salt, but beneath the city of Detroit Michigan, there is a vast underground mine.
posted by Capn (13 comments total)

Interesting post! Our class took a field trip to the salt mine when I was in the third grade; I'd almost forgotten about it.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:28 AM on April 4, 2005

Our class took a field trip to the salt mine

That sounds like something out of a Soviet propoganda film.

"Ve too zee children to za salt mines...."
posted by jonmc at 10:37 AM on April 4, 2005

Workers and equipment were lowered 1,200 feet through a 5-by-6-foot shaft. People came up at the end of their shifts; in the early days, mules went below and didn't resurface until they died.

Hmmm... That's vivid.
posted by 327.ca at 10:38 AM on April 4, 2005

in the early days, mules went below and didn't resurface until they died.

The workers did a brisk clandestine side business in pre-salt-preserved donkey meat after hours too*

*Not true.
posted by Capn at 10:41 AM on April 4, 2005

I remember going on a tour of the mine when I was about 12, just before it closed. Very cool. I didn't realize it was open again.
posted by naturesgreatestmiracle at 10:50 AM on April 4, 2005

Wonderful pictures.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:55 AM on April 4, 2005

The mine is still operating, and causing problems for those on the surface.
posted by HuronBob at 11:00 AM on April 4, 2005

The mines are open again, but the tours aren't. Too bad, I was kind of excited about seeing the mines.
posted by revgeorge at 11:43 AM on April 4, 2005

Well, just like that my tune Detroit Mining Disaster [MP3] goes from wry scene commentary to quasi-historical narrative. Thanks for the link(s)!
posted by joe lisboa at 1:20 PM on April 4, 2005

Great post - I had no idea this existed. Really fascinating! I'm sort of on a Detroit kick right now, after reading a great article in the Globe and Mail on it, and then researching their transit system. Funny that it could have a massive salt mine under it and I didn't know about it. Wish the mine was still open for tours, because I would love to visit it.
posted by livii at 3:43 PM on April 4, 2005

You can see the salt any winter -- we dig it out and spread it on the roads to melt ice (it also eats cars, which isn't necessarily bad for us if you think about it).
posted by pmurray63 at 8:06 PM on April 4, 2005

*cough*
posted by NortonDC at 9:12 PM on April 4, 2005

Sorry NortonDC, I searched for "salt" but that returned too many threads, so I tried "detroit salt" and that returned nothing and thus I thought I was safe.
posted by Capn at 11:21 AM on April 5, 2005