Deadwood's Adams Museum & House® is proud to announce the recent donation of the Homestake Collection from Barrick Gold Company. As Deadwood's flagship historical entity, the AM&H is pleased to have the opportunity to preserve, catalog and maintain this national treasure. The historical and scientific significance of this collection is virtually without limit. The search for gold defined the essence of the Black Hills for more than 126 years. The region, one of the last unexplored areas in the United States, was the site of one of America's last great gold rushes. Thousands of people swarmed the Black Hills, eagerly seeking their fortune. In May 2005, the Homestake Mining Company donated to Deadwood's Adams Museum & House, Inc. over 10,000 cubic feet of records that tell the history of the largest, oldest and deepest mine in the Western Hemisphere. The Homestake collection includes thousands of historic photographs and glass negatives, architectural drawings, maps of the mine and area, blueprints and patents, geological records of the Black Hills, original correspondence, daily journals, Homestake operation and production records, original artwork, the illustrious Noble geological specimen collection, equipment manuals, and scientific records. These extensive records are exceptionally valuable as they interpret the intellectual and cultural heritage of a significant mining business and the communities it supported. This phenomenal collection is complete, rare and intact. The collection is also valuable for what it will contribute to our future understanding of science. Founded within two years of one of the last great gold rushes in North America, the Homestake Gold Mine was the commanding economic engine of the Black Hills region as the largest single producer of low-grade ore for gold bullion in the world. Mining magnate George Hearst owned and operated the Homestake with subsidiary mines throughout the Black Hills, and eventually around the world. Hearst--a wealthy California businessman, United States Senator, and father of famed newspaperman William Randolph Hearst--had interests in the Comstock Lode and Ophir mine in Nevada, the Ontario silver mine in Utah, the Anaconda copper mine in Montana, as well as in the Homestake. He is one of the leading contributors credited with the development of the modern processes of quartz mining and other kinds of discoveries that revolutionized mining technology on a national and international scale. With a commitment from the City of Deadwood to use bonded funds to purchase and retrofit a building to serve as a research facility, Homestake's parent company, Barrick Gold, donated the collection to the AM&H in May 2005. In early 2006, the City of Deadwood purchased the former F.L. Thorpe Building to house the Homestake-Adams Research Center in a climate-controlled, secure facility. When completed, the new Homestake-Adams Research Center will provide a rotated, public display of collection artifacts plus a resource center for historians and scientists from all over the world. However, the archival materials contained in the Homestake Collection are temporarily closed to public access. Staff at the Homestake-Adams Research Center (HARC) are actively processing the collection and preparing for its relocation from temporary to permanent storage. It is anticipated that access will be granted in mid-2008. If you wish to submit a request for information, realizing that HARC staff will be unable to begin investigation into the request until mid-2008, please submit it in writing to, Carolyn Weber, Adams Museum & House, Inc., PO Box 252, Deadwood, SD 57732, or e-mail to amharchivist@rushmore.com. All requests will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis once the closure has been lifted. The HARC staff thanks you for your patience and understanding during this time of transition.