Strataca
Kansas Underground Salt Museum

3650 East Avenue G
Hutchinson, Kansas 67501
(620) 662-1425

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Hutchinson Restaurant & Attraction Guide

Kansas Underground Salt Museum - Hutchinson, Kansas
Salt Mine Express narrow gage underground train
Salt Mine Express ($4)

ceiling fall in the Strataca underground salt mine
Ceiling fall - the museum is constantly monitored for the possibility of a portion of the ceiling falling and dangerous areas are roped off. This
large ceiling fall is part of the dark tour. Smaller projections are knocked down before they can fall.

Trash in the Hutchinson salt mine
Everything that has been brought into the salt mine over the years has stayed in the mine - these "artifacts" date back for decades.

Before or after the rides in Hutchinson's Strataca Underground Salt Museum, visitors are free to tour the museum galleries on their own. The galleries feature exhibits devoted to mining, along with several videos. Many visitors spend most of their time in the exhibits devoted to Underground Vaults & Storage. Because of the security, low cost and constant climate (68 degrees and 45% relative humidity) UVS provides secure storage for many companies.

Those companies include all but one of the major motion picture studios and the caves store props and original film negatives for movies as diverse as "The Wizard of Oz," "Gone With The Wind," "Ben Hur," and "Star Wars." A small selection of the movie props is on display.

Because a big part of what they are selling is the high security, Underground Vaults & Storage was originally opposed to the new museum, but that has obviously changed. 

Salt mine equipment - Hutchinson, Kansas
The main museum gallery has mining equipment displays and videos of the equipment in operation

Electric railroad engine used in the salt mine.
This 42 inch gauge railroad operated in the salt mine from 1923 until 1983 when the company abandoned the system in
favor of a conveyor belt line. This DC electric engine was purchased from the Independent Salt Company at Kanopolis
and was a backup engine for times when the larger main engine was in use.

Roger Tener, Pat Knuth, Keith Stokes
Roger Tener, Pat Knuth and Kansastravel.org webmaster Keith Stokes taking advantage of a photo opportunity
in the galleries at Strataca Underground Salt Museum

props from Men in Black
Display of props from the Men in Black Movies

Movie props stored at Underground Vaults and Storage in Hutchinson
In addition to reels of film and videotapes, Underground Vaults & Storage clients store art, costumes and props like the chocolate
bars from Charlie and the Chocolate factory

Cricket pistol from the the movie Men in Black
Noisy Cricket chrome pistol from the the movie Men in Black

Movie Costumes in the Hutchinson underground storage
Movie costumes: Mr. Freeze costume worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger & Batman costume worn by George Clooney in
Batman and Robin, and Jean Girard Racing Suit worn by Sacha Baron Cohen in Talladega Nights.

Kansas Underground Salt Museum gift shop
The Strataca gift shop has many T-shirts with clever messages

Strataca Salt Mine Museum elevator
Waiting for the double deck elevator to return to the surface

Hutchinson Salt Company - Hutchinson, Kansas
Hutchinson Salt Company surface operation

Eight Wonders of Kansas

Kansas Cosmosphere is one of the eight Wonders of KansasIn 2007, the Kansas Sampler Foundation selected the Kansas Underground Salt Museum as one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas

Other sites selected as the Eight Wonders of Kansas included the Cathedral of the Plains, Kansas Cosmosphere, Monument & Castle Rocks, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and the Eisenhower Presidential Library

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