The Phuket Mining Museum is housed in an impressive Sino-Portuguese mansion that celebrates the history of tin mining in Phuket. Tin mining was the main industry on the island for at least half a century beginning in the early 1900s and the mines attracted thousands of Chinese workers who eventually settled on the island, creating the island's current prevalent cultural and ethnic mix, especially in Phuket Town. The museum features many wonderful old photographs of Phuket, as well as displays of everything from models and scenes recreated from ancient Phuket.