Young's Mine and Port Murray

[MarkBNJ]

Thought you guys would enjoy some historically interesting pictures from the cool, rocky north. These are from a trip I made last Sunday to a few spots I have been wanting to get to. The first few shots were taken in Cataract Park, a mostly unimproved addition to the Morris County Park system accessible via a short, steep and rocky trail off Schooley Mountain Rd, on the north side of the hill descending into Hackettstown.

Captions below the photos.

The entrance to Young's mine, accessible via a short side trail off the main path (side trail marked with orange blazes). I don't know much about the history of this mine, but most of the mines around here were worked out by the early- to mid-nineteenth century at the latest. As you'll see this was a rather small one.

A closer shot of the entrance. Viewing this I couldn't help but think of the labor required to hack into the rock in pursuit of what was, at the time, a scarce and very valuable resource.

The view inside the mine. I don't know how far in this originally went, and it wasn't easy to tell whether it had been filled or just panned out after a few thousand pounds of ore. The state did go around and fill a lot of these in back in the 1950's.

Looking back at the entrance from inside the mine.

A closeup of the rock around the entrance. I couldn't really see any tooling marks, and I am not sure whether they used picks, hand drills, or some other tool to work this vein.

Pile of tailings outside the mine.

This spot is well below the main mine entrance on the hillside. It's possible it was an attempt to open another shaft, or that it is a filled-in drainage shaft. It's also possible that it is natural but something about the siting made me think not.

Small lumps of coal or charcoal are to be found scattered all around the area near the mine.

Lastly a couple of shots from Port Murray, a former stop on the Morris Canal, which was perhaps the most improbable canal ever built. These are pictures of the surviving railway station on the line which took over the right of way. It may be the DL&W but I will have to look into that. Hope you enjoyed the pics!

 

[Hewey]

Nice! Port Murray, my old stomping grounds!

 

[MarkBNJ]

I forgot you hailed from those parts, Hewey. It's a pretty spot. There was an inclined plane for the canal there and I was hoping to sort of detect the lay of the land where it used to be, but I guess they leveled it all when they built the railroad. All those old canal towns are interesting. Port Colden, just a little further west, has some great old structures including a huge, and unfortunately mostly derelict, 19th century inn/hotel.

 

[Jerseyman]

Mark:

Most assuredly, Port Murray station stood along the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad.

Regarding Young’s Mine, William S. Bayley, writing in Volume VII of the Final Report of the State Geologist, Iron Mines (1910), states:

(120) Young’s Mine
On the topographic map a pit is located on the slope of Schooleys Mountain, on the east side of the road between Hackettstown and Schooleys Mountain post office and 2.5 miles south of Hackettstown. There is no reference to it in any of the reports of the Survey. Since it is only one-half mile north of the main shaft of the Marsh mine and on the property of W.W. Marsh in 1868, it is probably one of the openings of the Marsh min described on page 314.

(147) The Marsh Mine
The Marsh mine was in Washington Township, Morris County, about one-half mile north of Schooleys Mountain, on the east side of the road from this place to Hackettstown.
It was opened in 1855. Between this year and 1868 two large pits had been dug and 4,000 tons of ore raised. The place was again worked in 1872-3, and a new shaft sunk, though little mining was done. In 1882 some new explorations were undertaken and another shaft was sunk., 50 feet deep, but the ore found was siliceous and was therefore not worked.
Of the early openings the southwestern one was a pit 125 feet long and 30 feet to 40 feet deep. The ore body uncovered was very irregular. Its main portion dipped north-northeast at angles varying between 25° and 60° north-northeast.
In the northeast opening two detached and irregular ore bodies were worked. The northeast one dipped 40° to 50° northeast, with the southwest one dipped 60° to 70° southwest. No connection was observed between the two deposits in this pit, nor between either of them and those in the southwest pit.
In both pits the ore was imbedded in decomposed gneisses, and in neither case was it thought to be in place.
The ore was black and compact in some places, and in others it was crystaline. An analysis of this ore gave:

Fe3O4 SiO2 and ins. S P2O5 Fe Authority
56.1 35.2 .0 .6 40.6 N.J. 1868, p. 619

The shaft sunk in 1872-3 found a vein 3 to 4 feet wide, dipping southeast. This ore was also comparatively rich.

Fe S P Mn TiO2 Authority
57.62 o.55 .167 .0 2.05 N.J. 1879, p. 69

The ore discovered in 1882 was in a deposit 5 feet wide. It contained between 45 per cent. and 50 per cent. metallic iron.
The strong magnetic attraction observable in the vicinity of these openings suggests the presence of considerable ore beneath the surface. It is probable, however, that it occurs in numerous small deposits.
References: N.J. 1855, pp. 179-180; 1868, pp. 618-619; 1873, p. 59; 1879, pp. 68-69; 1883, p. 125.

I thought you might find this background information helpful.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[NJChileHead]

Hey Mark!

It's great that you made it to Cataract Park. I thought that it was really nice, and it was quite a climb, especially for such a small place. Did you see the waterfall and ravine?

Mark

 

[MarkBNJ]

Hey Mark!

It's great that you made it to Cataract Park. I thought that it was really nice, and it was quite a climb, especially for such a small place. Did you see the waterfall and ravine?

Mark

I did. Quite a picturesque spot, and I'm sorry I lived here for twelve years before climbing up there . I managed to clamber up to the top of the waterfall for a better view. I was struck by the very large split boulder at the top through which the water flows.

Jerseyman, thanks a ton for that information. The scene makes more sense to me now. I knew about the Marsh mine, but I didn't make the connection when I was standing up there. I wonder whether the name "Young's" is just an historical inaccuracy, or whether someone of that name tried to work it later (and apparently not fruitfully). Perhaps it is the remains of the 1872 or 1882 excavations.