The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-18
IRON MINES IN
NEW YORK CITY
Abandoned Diggings Or State
Island Yielded 100000
Tons of Ore

81.
lie New York's iron mines. once ,na
scene of busting activity, but now
deserted except for the Occasional
visit Of a college geology class 1r
the chance arrival of some person
who pauses to Wonder at the par,.-
liar brown earth or the pitted sur
face Of the Staten Island hills. ,ay.
the New York Times.
Nestled among the trees which >tlI
cover parts of the island are the d.
serted pits. No trace of machinery
if any ever existed there, is now left
no fresh marks of excavation are -
be seen, but the sides OF the digglnes
still show the rich brown ore up01
which in the last half century no vee-
citation has been able to take root ex-
cept a few stunted birches which find
scanty nourishment in their bed -
almost pure iron oxide.
And yet from these very pits cam.
much of the iron used in the early
history Of New York City, if the eSti-
mates Of the output can be credited
while if one wishes to trust in rum0-
some of the Staten Island iron even
found it's way into the making of th.
cannon which helped in the defense
Of the neWly-born republic in the
days of the Revolution.
Though the fact that iron was ever
found in commercial quantities within
the city limits probably will be news
to the majority of New Workers. the
history of the Staten Island deposits.
which are estimated to have yielded
nearly 800, 600 ton of ore. goes back
| to the days when the ndiar r0amed
| freely over the Borough of Richmond
| and the language of ola was the
only tongue spoken in the city. "a
important was the iron deposit on
Todt Hill thought to be in 1916 that
the Dutch government considered the
sending OF experts from Amsterdam
to investigate its value, with the
probable end in view of exporting the
ore to Europe. Only a little later, in
q patent to an early settler, John
Palmer. which was executed by Gov
ernor Dongan, specific reference WAS
made to the Iron Hill" as the slight
eminence was then called.
That the ore, which occurs in smal,
g%ranules and which is surprisingly
pure, was we'll thought of many years
ago is evidently from the laudatory.
though somewhat inaccurate, account
Of the mineral wealth of the island
which appeared in The American
Journal of Science in 1918. After
stating that the ore was a brown he
MATTE, (the common name for lin
onite), of which 80 per cent vas
iron. the author. James Pierce OF
New York City, said:
"a granular oxide, called by miners
shot ore,' from it's being composed
principally of spherical grains Of var
, ious sizes, was often noticed, and app
pears in some places in extensive
beds. It is easily fused and affords
!; a large percentage Of good iron tof
casting"
The author referred PARTICULARS q
> the glacial drift which covers til -
land as gravel and sand beds, though
he offered no explanation for their
i: presence.
How the iron got to the tops OF th+
slight hills which appear ~througnou'
Staten Island is a geologic problem
which finds it's answer in the fact tina
the highest parts of the island mus
have been, in ages long gone by, th,
top Of a huge plain.
Mention is made Of four mines 2i
5; the island, but where they Wera 3
hard to determine from the VarioA.
. histories Of the city. AS the iron Re-
: was hear the surface the ore ItSel
was probably dug out by hand. on
of the easiest mines to reach can ~
arrived at by taking the Richmoh'
trolley and getting off at Little CIoE
Road. After a short walk up hill t2
s reddish brown Of the iron ore r.
comes apparent, and a walk from tl
road Of little more than a couple q
NV III O1O ~
doned pits. Here though the top a5'
has had a chanc to again becom
covered with a mantle of grass, spec
mems Of the "shot ore a be h1
80 for the picking up.
it James Pierce, nearly q hundf
al years ago, wrote that as Staten j.
il land seemed TO bound in the pre-
t. ence of magnesium salts, especlaii
the carbonate, he thought that tA
&c location might be found perfecJI
suitable to the manufacture Of ri
som salts>
TT AS late as 1885 there is mention
SD the mines in the bulletin of the ~
Ve York State Museum of Natura IT,
- tory, the ore being described q IF
=, tween 50 per cent. to 50 per Ger
r IRON. while the output was rough
re estimated as at least 100000 tor.
es Though the mines had then been sh'
ry down for about ten years, four Wti
as mentioned. these being the New Dor
IA nTII