Strataca Salt Mine, Hutchinson, Kansas

This 3 hour adventure in the Strataca Salt Mine was one of the best adventures I have been on yet & I can’t wait to share it with you.

Fast Facts about Strataca

• Salt was discovered here in 1887 when land owner & prospector Ben Blanchard was drilling for oil.
• The salt mines here stretch over 27,000 miles.
• The mine in Hutchinson is operational & about 500,000 tons are mined here each year.
• The salt here is known as rock salt. It is excavated by blasting the salt into manageable pieces.
• The other way to mine salt is by evaporation. This method is used by two local mines, Cargill Salt and Morton Salt. Water is forced down into the salt deposit through a pipe & the briny mixture is pumped back to the surface. The salt that remains after evaporation is what we use for table salt.
• Most of the salt from this mine is used to de-ice highways in winter, but some of the salt is used in animal feed or when making homemade ice cream.

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All of the machinery in the mine had to be brought in through one of the three shafts. Many items had to be disassembled, brought down and then reassembled because they were too large.

Did you know there is no such thing as salt mining equipment? All of the equipment used to mine salt is coal mining equipment!

There is a phrase used here, “What goes into the mine stays in the mine.” When sections of the mine were opened, trash from the 1950s was found. You will see it in my video, along with an example of a mine toilet.

Umderground Storage

Strataca houses an incredible collection of some of Hollywood’s most prized screenplays, film reels and memorabilia. How did this underground collection come to be?

Because of the consistent 68 degree temperature and 40% humidity, Underground Vaults & Storage purchased 26-acres worth of secured space from the Hutchinson Salt Company, and stores everything from important medical records to government charts to precious film memorabilia from some of Hollywood’s most beloved films.

Since most of the collection is inaccessible to visitors, Underground Vaults & Storage set up a special collection for the public, which includes:

• A Batman costume worn by George Clooney.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze costume from “Batman and Robin.”
• Costumes from Charlie’s Angels II, Jack Frost & Talladega Nights.
• Props from Men in Black, Ali, The Matrix, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and Twister.
• Things you won’t see—they have the original film negatives for The Wizard of Oz, Ben Hur, and Gone with the Wind!

Strataca has access to about 300,000 square feet of mined out area.