And by making personal discoveries about our heritage we find more meaning in what we encounter day to day. There is a thread of heritage and industry that began in the New Jersey highlands centuries ago, before America officially started. If you know about it, a ride on the interstate becomes a little more interesting as you approach the hills on the horizon, passing through corridors cut through the earth. And turning off onto a county highway becomes a tour through some of the richest history in America when you really know where you are. From pre-Revolutionary times through the 1980's, the ore and minerals contained in our corner of the planet have shaped our history.
Mining is the basis for a major contribution from Northwest New Jersey to modern American society.
From the first established settlements in the Musconetcong River Valley the iron working communities were the most durable. Forges and foundries were the economic engines of the time, places that saw remarkable events. Iron is only a part of the story that is told in the wealth of sites you can visit here in the Skylands. You can follow a trail of key places in the development of the Industrial Revolution- and modern American society. Before these years there were no railroads, no health care, no telecommunications, no real cohesiveness beyond a political doctrine.