Mess Hall

Mess Hall. The Gold Mining Museum. , Many of the Old Dominion’s gold mines had mess balls that provided good, filling meals. After dinner, you could have stayed in the mess hall for a bit and relaxed with your fellow miners., Cooks in the mining camps would have made you food the wasn’t fancy, but was still filling and tasty. At breakfast you would have eaten your bacon and eggs with other miners. After your shift, the cook would have had a supper of meat and potatoes waiting for you., After the ample evening meal, some your fellow miners would have stayed in mess hall to play games, talk, and joke around. Others might have played music and some might have enjoyed homemade whiskey or beer. Many men would have played “questionable” games like poker., The mess hall was a place full of delicious smells and foods, and plenty of laughter and music., (captions) , Despite their raucous portrayal in the media, many miners also took part in less-“questionable” activities during their off hours. Chances are some miners would have attended religious revivals or camp meetings like this one held near gold mines in Great Falls, Virginia, in 1909. , Fairfax County Public Library Photographic Archive, Popular publication like Harper’s Weekly depicted the wild side of mining life for the curious public. Gambling and carousing were common in all mining camps, but the Virginia camps tended to be little tamer than their Wild West counterparts. Provided courtesy HarpWeek, LLC, Mining was a dangerous profession. Even the simplest act could have cost your life and limb. An obituary from the Fauquier County Democrat in 1917 tells of a miner beheaded while exiting a mine on a bucket like the one shown here., Miners weren’t the only people you would have seen in a mess hall. Cooks had to make all the meals for the hungry workers. , Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection