Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-03-16
MINERAL WEALTH
OF the Region About Valley Furnace, Bar
bOur County.

vi the region ABOUT Nalley uEnaCe, mar
bOur County.
VALLEY FURNACE, BARBOUR COUNTY,
". VA, March 9th, 1888.
To ne Editor Of ne Register:
SIR:-The old Valley Furnace, the ruins
of which are still seen on Bushy Creek, in
eastern Barbour County, was built by G..
". Bryan in 1913, and went out Of blast in
1854. It was constructed of sandstone,
after the old style of charcoal furnace. Its
capacity was about five tons per day which
WAS sent over q rough wagon road to the
Monoggahela river, a distance Of forty
miles and thence boated to Pittsburg,
This pig iron was that kind commercially
known az Scotch pig, one of the most
after brands of pig iron then as
now, made on the American continent and
fully up to the pig made in Scotland.
Old Valley Furnace stands almOstin the
center Of one Of the most wonderful rich
belts of minerals in America. This belt
is about twelve miles in, width and reaches
from Kingwood along the Western slope of
Laurel Hill, through Preston, Barbour
and Randolph counties a distance Of fifty
miles.
Along the main part of this belt exists
magnificent lots of timber. No effort has
been made TO develope this great seam OF
coal, but they are known 10 exist and have
been slightly mined in places for fuel to
sapply the sparsely settled region. The
principal seams measure seven, ten and
twenty-five feet, and an analysis of thea
ny DR.. Hurry puts their fixed carbon at
66 per cent, and their coke at lis per
csnt. From this it will be seen that these
Goals correspond very closely in coke with
the Conceivable. which is considered the
best coke in the United States for smelling
iron.
Almost within a stones throw Of old
Valley Furnace, are several crops Of iron
ore, the largest of which is at least eigh-
teen feet in thickness. The ore exposed
lies in seams that are broken and irregular
and more or less vertical lines of fracture.
The blocks thus defined are made up of a
multitude of concentric layers, like the
coats of an onion, and enclose a solid
nucleus of ore varying in size from a hens
egg to q bushel measure. These Coatings
are of q brOwnish red color like the oxide
of iron, while the central nucleus is of a
blush gray. Competent authority has
declared that this ore, nucleus and all will
equal IS per cent. iron. Weare certain this
ore crops throughoutthe belt outlined, but
there are four other seams of ore all rich in
iron, among which l will mention q re-
markedly fine quality of hydrated brown
oxide Of iron; this ore shows at openings,
to be from 5 to 7 feet in thickness; thou
sands of tons of it lie scattered loose along
the slopes of the hills. This ore contains
20 per cent. of iron. The aggregate thick
ness of the iron ore underlying ten thou
sand acres of land around Valley Furnace
may without ~exaggeration be estimated at
40 feet, and coal is abundant, This is not
all, a seam of limestone crops along the
eastern boundary fully so feet in thickness.
An immense seam of fine clay is only
separated from q crop of good iron ore by q
thin seam of shale. Within a half mile OF
the old furnace there IL a seam of manga
nese 4 feet thick an analysis ~hasShown it
to be very rich, reaching so per cent.
PcOf. f. 7. Cox, late State Ge0logist, OF
Indiana, visited several of the seams OF
coal and iron ore near Valley Furnace,
and made a partial geological survey OF
three thousand acres in 1888, and esti-
mated that pig iron can be made at Valley
Furnace for SO % per ton.
The G.. & G. K. r. passes within four
miles OF Valley Furnace, and the w. Va.
Central r r. will pass nine miles south
Of il.
When we take in consideration the
quantity and quality Of raw material
thrown together along this belt, we think
we are justified in saying that a second
Birmingham could be built up here, and
West Virginia lifted to a position among
the greatest manufacturing States Of
America. Respectfully,
JOHN RILEY PHILLIPS.