Bohemia Gold Mining Museum
Located inside the former Boots and Sandals Square Dance Barn (the red barn), just across from Bohemia Park. The museum is a living and expanding memorial to all miners, and to the history of gold mining activities in the Bohemia Mining District. The museum’s unique collection of photographs, tools, ore samples, and other artifacts pays tribute to the area’s gold mining history. This museum is dedicated to the memory of Guy Leabo, a long-time area miner with a passion for preserving the rich history of the Bohemia Mining District. Many of the artifacts in the museum were donated from his personal collection.
Business Hours
Thursday, Friday & Saturday:
1:00 to 4:00 pm
Admission: $2.00 per person
Your generous donations help us to preserve and provide access to our mining history.
If we don’t answer, please leave a message with details and contact information.
Note: It may take a few days for us to get back to you.
Tours
Call or email us to schedule a TOUR of the museum. We would love to show you our mining history!
Please sign the museum’s guest book each time you visit.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
~ Conversations from the Past ~
by Molly Reeves, 1989 (Helena Mine, 1931-1932)
Molly and her husband Bill Reeves were traveling up to the Helena Mine and were taking the road on the Vesuvius side of the Bohemia mountains. They drove as far as they could then walked the remainder of the way.
Bill would try to brake the trail but Molly would take a few steps and break through the crust of the snow. Bill would pull her up and they would go again.
The two of them were packing groceries they had bought in Eugene; one bag was a bag of prunes.
Molly and Bill slept in the second story of their bunk house and there was a partly finished story above them.
They went to bed that night and could hear a strange noise all night long. The next morning they went to check where the noise was coming from. They found that pack rats had carried all of their prunes from the second story to the third story and piled them in a neat pile like a pyramid.
Guy Leabo was the former owner of the mine at Crystal Basin. He was also a mining historian and a collector of antique mining tools and equipment. A life-long resident of the area, he played a significant role in helping to preserve and promote the mining culture in Cottage Grove.
Artifact Donations
If you have artifacts related to our rich mining history that you would consider donating to the museum, please call us at (541) 942-5022.
