Mining in the Adirondacks 40 comments
Mining shaped the physical and cultural landscape of the Adirondack Park for generations, and although the industry has largely disappeared, place names like Mineville, Old Forge, Ironville, Ferrona, and Black Brook are reminders that it once dominated the landscape.
While casual visitors to the Adirondack Park may not see much evidence of the region’s industrial past, more than 250 mines and ore processing sites have operated over time here, extracting eleven different minerals. Most notably, ores from the Adirondacks fed a national hunger for iron as the country expanded in the late 1800s.
Mining still exists in the Adirondack region, although on a much smaller scale than 50 to 75 years ago.
What do you think of when you think of mining? Do you have a positive or negative impression of mining? How important is mining to the way we live today?
Mining is a primary industry. It produces new wealth. Without new wealth, everyone’s slice of the pie gets smaller as populations increase. The Adirondacks need primary industries – everyone can’t be on the government payroll, be it Town, State, or school, just passing around each other’s tax money.
We think that it is positive because we need some of the natural resources to survive such as Oil, Charcol and ocassionally all sorts of gems. It is tho, negetive to a point such as we are disturbing the natural way of earth. We should not mess with what was made for us and put there. it is also dangerous. Research shows that many people have died just working with the extremly poisness chemical gasses. They do wear masks most times but it still is dangerous. even thou most mining is nessecary. it should be put to an extent.
My immpression of mining is quite negative. This is because all of the poisonus gases can harm you. By going down into the caves to mine, you are increasing your chance of death. many risks come with mining. many dangers.1. you could breathe in harmless and unnessecary gases. 2. the rock can fall and crush you to the ground. and 3. the tools involved are extremly dangerous.
but also. mining can be a great thing. for that loved one at home. such as a dimond ring.
All mining companies take the health and well being of their miners very seriously. I worked in a mine for a short time until its closure and I assure you that they take many precautions to guard their employees. You are given top of the line respirators, you are given hearing and eye protection, and super heavy duty wire mesh is bolted into the rock above you, and you are given instruments that are used to remove any loose rock ahead of or on top of you, and no one is allowed to go under unsupported ground. The implents are very long so you are not required to work under the rock you are knocking loose. The companies give you every chance and every tool you need to be safe and 99% of the time there are no injuries, but at the end of the day you know the rules and you are still responsible for your own safety. If you choose to disreguard the careful and thorough training they give you and you get hurt then ultimately you are to blame. As a female geologist just out of college I thought I would be terrified, in fact that job was the love of my life, and I never once felt that my life was in danger or that I wasnt safe. Mining has come a long way from what it used to be in the old days, and what they portray in movies. Also most mines arent in caves, they are man made tunnels in the earth made to follow a certain metal ore, not always diamonds, those you tend to see around Kimberlite pipes, (which I wont get into) and on another note the tools are not dangerous unless you use them without proper instruction, and in most mines you arent allowed to so much as touch equipment you havnt been trained to use…
After reading the two comments above yours Jamie, I feel relieved to know there are still people out there with a head on their shoulders.
Please restore or renew the mining exhibit. I always enjoyed it and have made many requests for its return.
we need the minerals but need to respect the land
I think of the movie October Sky when I think of mining and needless to say. (If you’ve seen it) I have a negative impression of it. Mining is important in the way we live today because it gives us important resources, that we wouldn’t have otherwise.
Im from NJ so the adirondacks is a big trip away. I like to go to the Hooper and Barton mine down here and I really look foward to it. The Hooper and Barton mine are in Garnet Hill (located near North Creek). They have many cool rocks, gems and garnets. And I think garnets are really pretty.
I’m not used to this sort of stuff. It’s amazing to see all these mines that are not from the Great Gold Rush! It’s awesome!
I think that mining by itself its not a negetave act , but i think that strip mining for coal or other natural meterials is very counter-productave to the “Green” enviromental lives many americans are trying to have. I think mining is nessassary but if we could devolope other sources of enegry we would not depend on it so fully.
When I think of mining, I think of the harsh conditions that the miners underwent for only pennies a day, so I obviously hav e anegative impression on mining.
i think mining is good but it does have a bad impact on the environment. I wish we could find a better way of mining without hurting the environment.
My husband grew up around mines in Wales. His father was a miner and he worked in the mines as an electrician as a young adult. I have both a positive and negative impression in that it provided a livlihood for many families but also brought tragedy and suffering. My father in law died in his 60’s of “black lung”.
When I think of mining I think of accidents and danger. Miners would go into a mine and sometimes never come out. What was the point of mining if it took so many lives? Mining is not important today, the only reason that people still do it is because gold and silver keeps going up on the market. Gold may look nice but is it nicer than peoples lives, possibly to some self centerd jerk but not to me. What if, say your brother, father, uncle, or cousin worked in a mine in the 1800’s, and he went to work in the mine and never came back imagine how sad you and your family would have been. Richer people in the 1800’s didn’t know how horrible this would have been, so they kept on buying gold and silver so mine owners would keep hiring pour men, or boys who were just trying to ern there family some money for there every day needs, which ment it cost more lives. If one of the miners died, there familys would have probably died to.
My name is Honora Davis and I want to educate people on the hard life of a miner and its family.
My outlook on on the matter is that mining is a dangerous and costly investment that disturbs and shapes the Adirondacks natural beauty. Mining is an entity which is not always needed in todays rapidly changing envirnment.
AS LONG AS THE MINES ARE DONE TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT, THEY CAN COMPLEMENT THE LOCAL ECONOMY. THIS WAY WE CAN ENJOY THE TREASURES OF THE MINES AND NOT HURT THE ENVIRONMENT. THANK YOU.
I AM WORRIED THAT THE RUN OFF FROM THE MINES WILL DAMAGE THE ANIMALS, AND MAYBE CONTAMINATE THE WATERS. THEREFORE, THEY SHOULD NOT ALLOW ANY MINING IN THE ADIRONDACKS.
THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLACE THIS COMMENT. I REALLY LOVE THIS MUSEUM. IT CELEBRATES A BYGONE ERA. WHEN I COME TO THE ADIRONDACK MUSEUM, IT IS ALMOST AS IF I AM TRANSPORTED IN TIME TO THE 1800S AND EARLY 1900S. THANKS.
I don’t think mining is very importent to America anymore because most things we have now aren’t made of iron.
I honestly don’t like the idea of mining that much. To be stuck in the dark for countless hours isn’t something I could take. They would also clutter land that would otherwise be pristine. Still, it is a vital industry, so I won’t want all mines shut down, I just don’t want many open.
mining is important to the economy of the country, but care must be used in how it is carried out. strip mining is very likely to leave a mess behind
When I think of mining I think of many things. I think of gold, dirt, money, caves, underground, hard work, and the Adirondacks.
Mining in upstate New York leaves a positive impression, because of the need for minerals.
Mining in upstate New York leaves a positive impression, because of the need for minerals.
In my oppinion, mining is hurtful to wherever the mine is located for a few reasons:
1. The location of the mine might overpopulate a town, destroying the town’s placement in the Adirondacks (by means of natural beauty).
2. In order to create a mine, you must drill a huge hole into a mountain, hill etc.
That would change the way people look at the site of the mine, from a positive to a negative.
I love mining! There are so many kinds of rocks, and minerals and ores that you can discover!
we need energy for power but we will try to produce with less pollution.
All mining produces some kind of pollution. However some very important mineral are needed for living. We must still use all avaliable technology to limit these pollutants
I feel that these mines had a great impact on the Adirondacks because many communities were formed around them and even though the mines are now closed off the towns still thrive.
In my opinion we need to stop mining and preserve the lands natural resources, we need to change over to 100% alternitive enery. It’s there lets use it. the minerals that we mine are not of renewable resource.
i think of searching for rare minerals. i think it is positive because alot of people made their living off of searching for minerals. and it gave them something to do in their spare time. mining is very important to the way we live today because there wouldn’t be precious stones like we have today. and also we wouldnt have our dailey resources like gas if we didnt have people busting their tails for it. thanks(:
republic steel and the communities and families that it supported
I think it is important to all. Some where it is a necessity.
After reading all the available comments, it is obvious many school children need at least a middle school science class that presents a basic course in earth sciences. The misconceptions displayed bode ill for the future of our country’s economy. First, the nation could not have expanded as it did without the mining of our natural resources, or from the production of oil and gas. Granted, there were some entreprenuers who exploited their employees, but that has long since passed. It is generally agreed, today, that strip mining spoils the surface of the earth, and most companies now have to reclaim that which has been mined… numerous examples are present in both this country and others. With the thousands of active mines in production, the accident rate is far less than that on the nation’s highways, or in our homes. These facts need to be prominently displayed for the enlightenment of the children and their parents…the truth shall set you free of false impressions.
After visiting the Adirondack Musuem, and learning a lot more about mining than I ever knew before, I see the essentials of the craft. I think it’s important, and very interesting!
When I think of mining, I think of men wearing hard hats working in the pitch black in less-than-comfortable conditions. I have a negative impression of mining, as I often associate it with the search for things like gold and diamonds, which leads to greed and violence. I am probably wrong about this, but….
Mining can be good. However, the use of limited resourses such as fresh water should not be wasted for mining energy
Still can hear my father say how tired he was after his shift was over.
when i think of mining, i think of cold and darkness. Not knowing if you r going to live. I really wouldn’t want to mine. I would feel scared to even try. I think it could be considered important. You could find gold and coal. Coal to heat your fire and gold to make you rich
wish I knew more