Days of Ore

In the early decades of the twentieth century, there was a brief boom in industrial-scale iron mining in the Baraboo Range Iron District in central Wisconsin. Freedom Mine, located in LaRue, Wisconsin, is one of the few examples of these iron ore mines left in the region, and its underground workings remain immaculately preserved underwater. Facing an ever present threat of flooding while in operation, the site was rapidly inundated in 1911, causing miners to leave tools and equipment in place.