12 rare photos inside an unusual, beautiful mine that's hidden 2,000 feet below Lake Erie

About 2,000 feet under Lake Erie, 30 miles east of Cleveland in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, you'll find a vast site called the Morton Salt Mine. Since 1959, the Fairport Harbor Morton Salt Mine has been exclusively mining for rock salt, which is most commonly used to melt snow and ice on roads.

The mine does not allow people other than workers to go underground, so when Morton Salt's parent company, K+S, offered photographer Ricky Rhodes a tour to photograph for their company newsletter, he jumped at the opportunity.

"The experience was like nothing I have experienced before," Rhodes told Business Insider of his tour. "I don't really have anything to compare it to."

The mine is an unusual space of long tunnels lit only by headlamps of the workers and minimal lights on the ceiling. Luckily, Rhodes had the proper photography gear to bring the place to life.