The Miner’s Hat was constructed in 1940, when Mary Etta Page had it built next to Highway 10. She ran it as a roadside diner, a place where hungry workers driving to and from their shifts in Kellogg’s lead and silver mines could grab a beer and a “Coney Island” hot dog, the Hat’s most popular dish.
The building was constructed as a circular one story wood-frame building with a concrete block basement and a rectangular addition. The foundation is a concrete slab. The main circular structural component is 20 feet in diameter with a domed roof, approximately 20 feet tall. A flat eave extends outwards from the lower portion of the domed roof forming a narrow “hat brim”.
A replica of a miner’s carbide headlamp is constructed in steel and is attached to the main entrance of the building; the light in the headlamp is operational. The rectangular addition is 20×40 feet with a flat roof; there is a two-bay carport incorporated into the addition. The original exterior was covered with wood clapboard siding and had two wood sash windows as well as partially glazed wooden doors. The original interior contained booths for diners that lined the circular walls.
In 1967 the building was sold to be used as a commercial office for Miner’s Hat Realty. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
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