Pahaquarry Copper Mine

The Pahaquarry Copper Mine is an abandoned copper mine located on the west side of Kittatinny Mountain presently in Hardwick Township in Warren County, New Jersey in the United States. Active mining was attempted for brief periods during the mid-eighteenth, mid-nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries but was never successful despite developments in mining technology and improving mineral extraction methods. Such ventures were not profitable as the ore extracted proved to be of too low a concentration of copper. This site incorporates the mining ruins, hiking trails, and nearby waterfalls, and is located within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and administered by the National Park Service. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as a contributing property to the Old Mine Road Historic District. With

Local tradition and several early historians recount legends of seventeenth-century Dutch miners searching for copper in the Minisink region and commencing mining operations at this location before 1650. In order to bring this ore to market, the miners are alleged to have built a road, the Old Mine Road linking these mines near the Delaware Water Gap with Kingston, New York. This tradition has been refuted by recent research, and it is thought the road has no connection with the mines but was built as Dutch families from New York settled the Minisink in the Eighteenth Century. The earliest evidence of mining at Pahaquarry is 1740 with a brief venture funded by John Reading, Jr. Later attempts in the middle of the nineteenth century and a renewed effort during the early years of the twentieth century were brief and likewise unsuccessful.

History

Legends about Dutch miners

There are several legends associated with this mine that have been discredited by historians and archaeologists, notably Herbert C. Kraft. One legend claims that the Lenape worked the mine even before European settlers arrived. However, archeological and scientific testing show that the copper artifacts from the area originated from major native copper mines in Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula Michigan.

Another legend claims that early Dutch settlers of New Netherland in the 1650s discovered and worked the mine in Lenape territory. This then leads to the legend that the Dutch built the Old Mine Road stretching to Esopus, New York to transport the ore. While the nearby roadside historical marker repeats these claims, no hard evidence has been found to support either one. Many references to this mining area continue to repeat these old legends as fact.

Mining ventures 1750-1910

The Pahaquarry mine site was operated for three brief periods of mining activity. The earliest documented reports are from the 1750s, when John Reading, Jr. and his partners purchased land along the Mine Brook in early Walpack Township along the Delaware River in northwestern New Jersey. Reading, a prominent surveyor and land investor and member of the Provincial Council, served as the New Jersey colony's acting governor in 1747, and from 1757–1758. By 1760, the venture was a failure and mining activity ceased.

The next attempt began with the formation of the Alleghany Mining Company in 1847 by a group of men from Flemington, New Jersey

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases