The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-02
The End OF IRON MOUNTAIN
FAMOUS ORE DEPOSIT ONLY A
REB HILL NOW.

~ OhgO So1n
The Ore Was InexhAupCible-A Town
which II BecOming . Picturesque ruin.
Nothing Is left Of the famous Iron Noun
tain q a mound and a memory. Tn
Circuit Court Of 81. Francois county dis-
solved tho Iron Mountain Company recently
upon unanimous petition OF the stock
holders, inc the assets have been divided
and the concern has gone put OF existence.
That was the ultimate and final end Of
Iron Mountain a. a mining proposition.
says q Pennington. Mo, correspondent Of
the st. Paul Pioneer Press.
After half a century Of action and in
action, ups and downs, rapid growth a-d
still more rapid decay. this most calshrAsad
iron mine in the world, a mere wart on The
surface Of southeast Missouri, which paid
moro than $4,000 0 in dividends through
it's output Of tho basest and commonsst
Of metals, enters irrevOcably the past.
Iron Mountain, however, still lives and
will live in history. IL belongs to the 70
mantle record Of world development; II
10 an interesting chapter in the book Of
material progress; 1t had to do with Che
making OF mighty enterprises and the
growth OF States and the spreading Of
civilization into frontier places. Nothing
In tho whole history Of iron mining opera
lions In the United States or elsewhere has
occupied quite such a conspicuous place
as during its active life did Iron Mountains.
the inexhaustible hill OF ore that played
out.
Fifty years ago Government experts
pronounced the iron ore in the mountain
practically in~exhaustible." Twenty-Five
years ago there were experts who held
the same view. II was believed that the
entire mountain above ground and far
into the bowels Of tho earth beneath the
surface OF the surrounding valley was q
mass of almost solid iron ore, averaging
65 per cent. pure iron. Thirteen years
ago, however, the Iron Mountain Com
pany suspended operations on the extensive
scale Of the preceding quarter of a century.
and since then the taking out OF ore had
been carried on but sporadically and in
comparatively small quantities. There il
still some ore left in the remains of tho
mountain, but not enough to work in pay
ing quantities.
Though the enthusiastic expectations Of
the earlier biologists were not to be real
lied, the fact that the Iron Mountain Com
pany, capitalized at 5000. 900, paid nearly
200 per cent. dividends on it's capitalization
in about twenty-five years Of active opera
tions shows that this played out mountain
was by no mean a failure From a hill
228 feet high, its base covering about 500
acres, and from an adjoining knoll called
Little Iron Mountain, much smaller in area,
a production OF 5 100000 in iron is in every
sense remarkable.
When Iron Mountain first began to yield
ore, sixty-one years g its location was
practically a wilderness. The country
was but sparsely settled. The roads were
merely dim trails through the woods and
up and down the rocky hills. There were,
OF course, no railroads.
1t was not until 1853 that the st. Louis;
Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad
was built from st. Louis TO Iron Mountain
and a little later xtended to Pilot Knob to
haul the ores to st. Louis.
For many years the company maintained
an immense blast furnace at Irondale:
twelve miles north, where millions Of tons
of pig iron were manufactured. This fur
mace founded and built the town Of Iron
dale, which became almost a deserted VII
lage about thirty years ago, when the FUR
mace closed down, but latterly' has recog-
cred considerably as a farming community.
For miles in every direction from Irondale
the heavy timber was cut on and burned
into charcoal for use in the blast furnaces.
Thirty or forty years ago the coal wagon;
with a huge bed built in the shape Of a
barge. the sides sloping outward, was a
familiar sight on country roads. The
timber was burned to charcoal in pits on
the and where IL vas cut, These pits
were merely stacks Of wood, built I'D to'a
height Of about twenty feet, conical in
shape and covered with leaves and earth.
Fires were started in the interior and tho
wood was burned to a char.
The Iron Mountain Company owned and
reaching two and one-half miles in every
direction from Iron Mountain. The wood
from this land was cut of for charcoal
and the company also purchased the tim
Der from thousands Of acres owned by
other parties and made charcoal of Il,
Since the abandonment OF the furnaces a
new growth of trees has succeeded the
once heavy forests, but most Of the timber
is still too light to he used for lumber.
The town Of Iron Mountain in it's palmv
days was a mining camp Of unique inter-
est. Though the town contained approxi-
mately 5000 people, including perhaps
1000 miners and furnace hands, there was
practically no rowdyism. About fifteen
years ago the town began to dwindle and
after the practical suspension OF opera
tions in 1893 the dwindling process was
quite rapid. At present the population
numbers scarcely 100 and for several years.
until two months ago, even the post ofice
was abandoned and the few remaining
people received their mail at Middlebrook.
three miles south At present there IL not
q single store or business institution in
Iron Mountain.
A few Of the old dwelling houses re-
main. mute and pathetic witnesses Of a
greater past. Blue grass has grown up IN
the old streets to the doors Of the deserted
dwellings and the grass affords fine pastur-
age for horses, cattle, sheep and hogs,
which roam the deserted villa &c.
Iron Mountain itself-what remains Of
it-presents many features Of curious in
terest. Passengers on the Iron Mountain
Railroad, when the trains pass the little
station, are attracted by a curious slope
Of red soil east Of the tracks. This big
mound, scarcely eighty feet high, In al
that remains Of Iron Mountain. The zir-
face is ridged and quilted by the rains OF
many years. Here and there may be seen
the ruins Of the old furnaces and reduction
plants, the blacksmith shops, the old "com-
pany store" the deserted Catholic church,
the Joint Masonic and Odd Fellows hall
and other structures that tell of a former
citv.
Tourists frequently stop on at the station
to walk or drive about the abandoned
works, put they seldom take the trouble
to climb to the top Of the old red mound.
This climb will repay any visitor. One
Of the most remarkable lakes in the
OF them, in fact-may be seen
in the crater Of the mountain. After
the bulk OF the mountain had been
= - l.