CMMM object of the month: Tin nuggets
The Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum in Nome cares for many interesting items that may at first look unassuming. Among the small treasures in the collection are three dark speckled nuggets of tin mined right here on the Seward Peninsula in the gold rush town of Tin City located close to Wales.
Tin City served as the only source of tin in the United States from 1903 to 1914. From the few available sources of information, we know Tin City had a post office, stamp mill and at least one family with a sod house. Access to the area was by ship, dogsled and, as shown in one image, a dog-pulled wagon.
In 1915, the Nome Chamber of Commerce reported that the Seward Peninsula produced about 200 tons of tin from the richest known deposits in the world (at that time). Rarely used alone, tin is alloyed (mixed with other metals) or used to create chemical compounds. It is an important component in bronze, brass, tin plate (used for cans), solder, plastic production, touchscreens, batteries, wiring, toothpaste and much more.
Tin is so important to our daily lives that a U.S. Geological Survey Report from 2017 declared it a critical mineral resource. Yet almost 75 percent of all tin is imported to the United States with the remainder made up from recycled products. Due to tin’s heavy weight, placer deposits of tin are usually mined with dredges. Gold miners in Nome have to tune their retrieval system to avoid tin settling in their mats. In some areas, miners will intentionally capture both metals to sell.
While mining operations at Tin City came to a halt right before World War I, Tin City was re-established in the 1950s due its close proximity to the Soviet Union. The area soon boasted a United States Air Force Base, long range radar station
and a White Alice communications site.
Today, the tin nuggets at the Carrie McLain Museum remind us of the role Tin City once played on the Seward Peninsula as both a source of mineral wealth and a strategic defense location. Community members are warmly invited to stop into the Carrie McLain Museum to examine these tin nuggets and hold a piece of our region’s history in your hand.