The Nevada Traveler: UNR’S Keck Museum offers rocks of the ages

The W.M. Keck Earth Science and Mineral Engineering Museum, tucked inside the Mackay School of Mines on the University of Nevada, Reno campus, is the place to rock out.

The museum is a mineralogist’s delight, filled with hundreds of specimens from around the world. Wandering through the displays, you can find everything from Sumatran gold to Virginia City silver.

The collection is housed in the historic Mackay School of Mines building, originally built in 1908. The impressive two-story red brick structure, with a striking green-colored patina roof, was designed by the firm of famed 19th century New York architect Stanford White and is listed on the National Historic Register.

It’s easy to recognize the building because there’s a large bronze statue of its namesake, Virginia City mining baron John Mackay, in front. The statue is the work of famed sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who also carved the presidential heads into Mount Rushmore.

Exploring the museum is interesting, even if you don’t know much about rocks. There is something fascinating in the rich textures, which can range from smooth hematites to flaky shales, and the vivid colors of the various rocks.

The rocks are displayed by types, starting with native elements (gold, etc.), followed by sulphides (cinnabar, galena and, my favorite name, skutterudites), sulpo-salts, halads, oxides, carbonates, silicates, phosphates, sulphates, tungstates, and hydrocarbons.

And after you've finished looking at them all, you'll at least know what kinds of rocks fit into each category.

Other displays focus on high profile minerals such as tin, iron and tungsten. An intriguing case shows the effects of calcites on various objects, such as a horseshoe and pair of sheep sheers (both found in a calcium-rich hot springs near Elko).

Many of the stones on display are valuable. For instance, there are excellent examples of the prized Virgin Valley fire opals. Nearby, is a 19^th century bank safe filled with a large collection of authentic silver and gold ore from Virginia City (including samples from such historically well-known mines as the Savage, the Best & Belcher and Consolidated California and Virginia).

Additionally, one wall of glass cases highlights specific minerals found in each county of the state.

On the second floor of the museum, you will find a nice display of fossils discovered in the state, including mammoth tusks, giant ground sloths and other ancient bones. Adjacent are large collections of other prehistoric fossils, such as trilobites and other shelled creatures.

An historic display features antique mining equipment (drills, candle holders, scales and lamps) as well as an 1873 printing telegraph used in Sutro Tunnel, a mine cage from Comstock’s Big Bonanza mine, and bullion scales used to weight gold and silver bars before shipping them from Virginia City to the Carson City Mint.

Another unusual display is a reconstruction of an early 20^th century miner’s office. Called the O’Brien Collection, the furniture, ore samples, books and equipment shown were found in an actual mining engineer’s office in Beatty.

One of the highlights of the Keck Museum is the John Mackay Silver Collection. In the 1870s, Mackay sent nearly a half-ton of Virginia City silver ore to the famous Tiffany & Co. in New York to have a massive silver service created for his wife.

Two hundred silversmiths worked for two years to create the service, which eventually included 1,350 pieces, weighing 14,718 ounces. The impressive service was displayed at the 1878 Paris Exposition.

At the Keck, you can view a portion of the Mackay Collection, which is without a doubt one of the most elaborate and beautiful silver services ever crafted. Each piece has the initials “MLM” in intertwined script, which stands for Marie Louise Mackay, as well as the Hungerford Family crest of her family.

The Mackay building is located at the north end of the UNR Quad (the pastoral grassy area that is the campus center). Opposite, at the south end of the Quad, is Morrill Hall, the first building constructed at UNR.

Built in 1887, the building was named for U.S. Sen. Justin S. Morrill of Vermont, author of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, which fostered the establishment of the University of Nevada system. Today, it houses the university alumni relations office and the University of Nevada Press.

The Keck Museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.

For information, go to www.unr.edu/mackay/keck-museum.

Rich Moreno writes about the places and people that make Nevada special.