Iron sand was
mentioned in 1749 in writings by Swedish naturalist Peter Kalm while visiting
Fort St. Frederic in Crown Point.
Iron sand was
mentioned in 1749 in writings by Swedish naturalist Peter Kalm while visiting
Fort St. Frederic in Crown Point.
Phillip Skene,
who founded Skenesboro in 1761 (now Whitehall), built the first ironworks
on Lake Champlain.
In 1798, Plattsburgh
namesake, Zephaniah Platt and associates erected and operated an iron forge
at the mouth of the Saranac River.
Small iron works
sprang up near the shores of Lake Champlain, Willsboro and other points,
then ent inland to the Saranac Valley and Ausable Valley (Clintonville
in 1810 or 1812).
Significant
smelting shifted to Palmer Hill. The Palmer Hill Mine was developed north
of Ausable Forks when a man trying to set up boundaries for a sheep pasture
found iron ore.
Iron ore at
Arnold Hill in 1806 was perceived as "virtually inexhaustible".
It was gone in a couple of decades.
New Englanders
and Quebecers came to the area during the early 1800's, when the iron industry
converged from the north and the south. It was still fairly small scale,
responding to local needs.
In Peru, a blast
furnace (for an iron mine) was on the Little Ausable. All work was geared
to local and regional markets. Important products of the time were boat
anchors and horseshoe nails (developed in Keeseville).
Champlain Canal
opened in 1832. This launched the North Country iron industry. It was isolated
until then, with attempts geard only at locals. The iron industry became
widespread. Isolation was broken down.
The Moriah iron-ore
mining takeoff coincided with the opening of the canal. A host of new deposits
were found. The town became foremost in iron-ore development.
Cedar Point
Furnace opened in 1872, producing 20 tons a day, and 20 years later it
produced 200 tons a day. Cedar Point Foundary was built in 1879. More buildings
were built in the 1920's.
The Port Henry
Iron Ore Co. was organized in December 1858.
Many small,
early-producing mines opened in the 1800's in the towns of Elizabethtown
and Westport.
Total ore production
from mines in the Town of Moriah, from their discovery in 1869, was estimated
at 1.1 million ons, with one-third of that amount produced during the lat
six years.
Lyon Mountain
iron-ore mining began in the late 1860's.
By the end of
the 1800's, a lot of local ore mines were exhausted. Many mines were abandoned.
Financial panics in 1837, 1857, 1873, and1893 brought financial ruin to
some, while survivors grew stronger. After the 1873 depression, wages were
reduced to $2.25 a day for a pit foreman and $1 a day for drill boys. This
for a 10-hour day. Average daily wages climbed to $2.25 in 1912 and $3.33
in 1917.
Witherbee Sherman
and Co. and Port Henry Iron Ore Co. were strong enough to survive depressions
that ruined other companies.
Immigrants from
England Poland, Hungary, Italy, and Spain came to the Champlain Valley
communities of Mineville, Witherbee, and Port Henry.
Witherbee Sherman
and Co. statistics: employment peaked in 1917 with 1,603 men; wages in
1920 were $4.94 a day; fatal accidents from 1911 to 1920 totaled 43.
Port Henry Iron
Ore Co. ended mine production in 1923. Operations were acquired by Witherbee
Sherman Corp. several years later.
Mines completely
shut down during 1932-33, except for minimum pumping and maintenance, picked
up in 1936-37.
The towns of
Dannemora and Moriah were among the biggest mining operations in the 20th
century.
Standish and
Port Henry had blast furnace operations until the late 1930's.
Republic Steel
appeared in the North Country during the late 1930's; in Moriah, 1937;
Dannemora, 1939-40. Republic Steel bought the mines in what became known
as theChamplain District.
Mining was intense
during World War II. Miners worked around the clock to supply the necessary
raw materials for planes.
Payroll in 1952
at the Morah mines was $4.058 million.
Mining profitability
in the 1950's was unreliable because the demand was on-again, off-again,
and the market tapered. Republic Steel sought lower-cost mining adventures
in West Africa. Mines became deeper and deeper.
Today, Cedar
Point is only the concrete blockhouse. Operations ceased in 1971, and 10
years later the remaining foundations were demolished, the elevated earth
trestle leveled and the area graded.
Mining expansion forced the entire village of Tahawus to be uprooted
and moved to Newcomb in 1963.
Sources:
Lyon Mt Mine page;
Plattsburgh Press Republican; Jan. 3, 1999;
article by Louise Spring, Photos by Dave Paczak.
Also see:
Lyon Mountain page 1.
Lyon Mountain page 2.
Lyon Mountain page 3.
rodbigelow@netzero.net
