The Visitor Experience
The Mint Project will offer an exciting new learning environment that brings history to life in a relevant, fun and engaging manner.Experiences at the Mint will EXPLAIN, INSPIRE, and TEACH, promoting conversation, inquiry, creation and adventure.
When restored, the unique mix of experiences at the Mint will include:
QUAKE!A seated theater experience that enables visitors to see, hear, touch, and smell the impact of the great earthquake and fire of 1906. It immerses visitors in "safe danger", providing insights into the impact of key decisions made and how the event forever changed the Bay Area's future.Themed Chronology of San Francisco Bay Area History
Discover! 25,000 sq. feet of San Francisco Bay Area History Exhibits: Immersive and participatory, they will chronicle the region's key development periods and lay a foundation for understanding the region's history, inspiring further participation and exploration, including:
Earth, Wind, Fire & Water: presents the "lay of the land" as discovered by early inhabitants. Organized around the four elements to explain the area's topography, climate, and physical features as well as the changes that have occurred since the arrival of man.
Native Americans, Explorers & Settlement: introduces the different groups of settlers who lived and prospered in the Bay area before the discovery of gold brought a storm of people to the region. Covers the Ohlone Indians, Spanish settlers, Franciscan friars, Mexicans, and Californian families.
Instant City: The 1st Gold Rush from 1848 to 1852 transformed the village of Yerba Buena into an urban metropolis almost overnight and established patterns of life and settlement that have characterized the Bay ever since.
Quake! The 1906 Earthquake and fire destroyed a quarter of the City (i.e., 500 city blocks and 28,000 buildings), including the most important commercial districts and densely populated neighborhoods. Thousands were killed and tens of thousands were left homeless.
Rebirth: focuses on the amazing growth of the region from 1906 to 1915, culminating with the opening of the Pan Pacific International Exposition. Incredible migration was necessary to support the numerous public works projects and led to the creation of many of today's ethnic "villages" and cultural districts.
Voices of San Francisco: summarizes the personal stories of some of the ordinary people who made extraordinary journeys to find a new life in San Francisco. While the individual treasure each sought by each was different, their rationale was the same - a quest for a better life.
Works: presents the history of organized labor and the tremendous impact the labor movement had on the rest of the country. Summarizes the great Public Works Projects (e.g., Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, Twin Peaks tunnel, Hetch-Hetchy dam, Murals in Coit tower).
Shaped by War - The 2nd Gold Rush! The beginning of the military-industrial complex and the largest shipbuilding port in the history of the world. Covers Japanese internment camps, Wendy the Welder, Birth of the United Nations, the Atomic Bomb, and the start of Silicon Valley.
Capital of the Counterculture: a diverse and dynamic seaport city nurtured an active cultural life with a tradition of rebellious, countercultural activities that have identified the city ever since WWII. Many of the most powerful social and political forces shaping the City today are direct spin-offs of the rebellions of the 1960s.
The Third Gold Rush: The Bay Area laid at the heart of a 3rd Gold Rush at the end of the 20th Century. Internet companies, based in the Bay or built with its capital and technology, changed the way the U.S. and the world did everything from shop to communicate, find information, get a job, share ideas, and even find love. Even today, the Bay area continues to incubate these “New Economy” entrepreneurs who are driving innovation in numerous other fields, including bito-technology, nanotechnology, and evolving "green" technologies.