The Resources of North Carolina - Pages 35-58



Page 35

Iron Ores and Iron Works.

   There are various localities furnishing unusually good iron Ores in 
North Carolina, and the finest wrought iron has been made there in small 
quantities since colonial times. The iron of Lincoln County has been 
particularly celebrated for its strength and toughness. In the report of 
the American Iron Association for 1859, no less than fifty-one furnaces 
forges and bloomaries are enumerated as having been in operation at 
various recent periods, about one-half of them being at that time at work. 
Some of the ore beds are among the most promising in the United States, 
and that in Guilford County, near Greensboro, is just now being put in 
operation, making iron with ten Catalan forges, a steam hammer weighing 
eight tons, and three hundred workmen.(*)

   The North Carolina Central Steel and Iron Manufacturing Company, in 
this county, are just receiving their machinery. The ponderous steam 
hammer weighs over eight tons. The Company is now erecting ten Catalan 
forges, and will in a time give employment to three or four hundred 
skilled iron workers, the most of whom will be from Pennsylvania."--
Bulletin of the American, Iron and Steel Association, May 26, 1869.

   The accounts given of the iron ore beds of this State are here 
condensed from Prof. Emmons' reports, and from the reports of the American 
Iron Association.

   Beginning at the western part of the midland counties, or those between 
the foot of the Blue Ridge and the low counties of the coast we find three 
valuable belts of magnetic iron ore the first passing within six or seven 
miles of Lincolnton, in Lincoln County, on the Catawba.

   "The beds of ore are seen on the north side of the plank road, seven 
miles from Lincolnton. The limestone is a mile west of the ore. The ore is 
usually near the crest of a ridge, or traverses parallel ridges very 
obliquely . . . The veins of Lincoln County are lens shaped, with knife 
edges lapping each other, increasing, to six or eight feet thick in a 
length or depth of fifty or sixty feet . . . The ore is usually fine 
grained, soft, easily crushed in the hands, strongly magnetic, easily 
smelted . . . The veins have been wrought for many years, and have made a 
celebrated iron, strong and tough" 

   This ore bed extends into Gaston County, at King's Mountain, and at 
this point the Briggs' vein is forty feet thick. 

(* "Greensboro, North Carolina, May 25th, 1869.)

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Iron has been made here for half a century. Beds of hematite ore occur on 
both King's Mountain and Crowder's Mountain, and Prof. Lesley says that 
"the resources of the present veins are so vast that no inducement is held 
out to active exploration." Twelve or fifteen furnaces and forges have 
long been at work on these splendid ore banks; and in one of them the ore 
contains nickel, this ore being worked by Columbia furnace and forges. In 
Cleveland County, just west of Lincoln and Gaston, six forges were at work 
in 1859 on fine magnetic ores, obtained from the mountains east of and 
near the First Broad River. There are other works in Rutherford County, 
adjoining. This whole district is rich almost without parallel in magnetic 
and hematite ores of the best quality.

   Next are the belts of ore in and near the valley of the Yadkin River, 
and occurring chiefly in Montgomery, Randolph, Davie, Guilford, Stokes, 
and Surrey Counties. Near Troy there are some fine masses; one occupies a 
low hill a quarter of a mile in length, and fifty feet wide--a fine, heavy 
peroxide. Beds of specular and of magnetic ore lie near each other north 
of Troy. (Prof. Lesley.) These are near the Carter gold mine. "Three or 
four miles southwest of Franklinville, and near Deep River, heavy black 
masses of magnetic ore lie in abundance loose about the uncultivated 
surface, near a fine ore bed." "In Stokes County four bloomary forges, 
within ten miles around Danville, work up magnetic ore . . .A magnetic ore 
bed, one mile from Danbury, is six feet thick, nearly vertical, strike 
northeast; percentage of iron 77; depth of shaft fifty-seven feet. The Dan 
River coal basin is within ten miles." (Lesley.) Some of these works have 
long been in operation, but without adequate capital. In Surrey and Yadkin 
Counties, near the localities just mentioned, the same beds are found, and 
twelve or fifteen forges have at various times been in operation. In 
Catawba County, some distance southwest, there are also several works, and 
fine magnetic beds; but in Guilford County, near Greensboro, and east of 
the counties last above named, there are "several veins of black and 
middling coarse, valuable magnetic ore, unmixed and pure, which have long 
been known." This is 

Page 37

the locality of the extensive new works just referred to, and the 
extraordinary opportunity offered to make the best iron at very cheap 
rates, might be much more largely improved.

   The third belt of what Lesley calls primary iron ores is found on the 
Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers, in Chatham, Johnston, Wake, and Orange 
Counties. In Chatham County is "Ore Hill, a famous locality of hematite 
ore, traversing a knob three hundred feet high in east and west belts of 
talc slate, quartz, etc., forming the pinnacle of the hill. Here old 
excavations show where, in the times of the Revolutionary war, the large 
concretionary masses of ore were extracted." A portion of the ore of 
Chatham County is said to be identical with the celebrated Blackband of 
Scotland. Various extensive beds of hematite ore are reported in the other 
counties named, and a less number of magnetic ore beds. A valuable bed of 
carbonate of iron, in a vein containing gold, exists on the Uwharrie 
River. (Dr. Emmons' Rept. 1856.) West of the Blue Ridge there is also 
plenty of valuable ore. No less than twenty bloomaries and furnaces have 
been established in Ashe, Wautauga, and Cherokee Counties, representing 
both extremities of the mountain valley region. Some of the ore beds were 
magnetic and others various forms of hematite.

   Altogether, although the quantity of iron made in any one year 
heretofore has not been large, there is no part of the Union more 
promising for the establishment of works. In 1856 there were 36 forges at 
work, making 1182 tons of blooms; while 3 furnaces made of charcoal pig 
iron 450 tons, and one rolling-mill only was at work. The census reports 
are very incomplete, yet they return, in 1850, 1200 tons of bar iron made, 
value $127,849; and in 1860, 1096 tons, value $99,656. The Briggs Iron 
Works, and two other mills just below King's Mountain, in South Carolina, 
have long made excellent bar iron for use in the counties adjoining.

   The following account of the iron ore beds of the western counties is 
from Prof. Kerr's report of 1866, and it is so clear and forcible as to 
require transcribing in full:--

   "Iron is found in some of its various forms of ore in most of the 
western counties, but its most important localities are in Cherokee and 
Mitchell, These are worthy of being mentioned with the Iron Mountain of 
Missouri. 

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The ore of Cherokee belongs to the class known as hematite. It occurs 
along with each of the parallel subdivisions of the limestone, sometimes 
on both sides of them. It outcrops in immense masses along Notteley, on 
Hiwassee at the junction of Valley River, on Peachtree Creek, and the 
whole length of Valley River, an aggregate distance of twenty-five miles. 
One of these beds, which appears on Peachtree, is a soft, uncompacted 
brown ochre, which has been mined for paint. This bed is well developed in 
the upper portion of the valley of Valley River, on Paint Creek, and again 
above Valleytown. The ores from many of these beds have been wrought in 
the common bloomaries of the country (of which there were, perhaps, half a 
dozen in the county), and even under this mode of treatment are said to 
yield a large percentage of metal of good quality. And those beds of slaty 
ore, which are not workable in such open forges, would be easily smelted 
in a blast furnace.

   "It is apparent, therefore, that there exist in Cherokee County the 
most favorable conditions for the manufacture of iron on an indefinite 
scale. Three large rivers flow along and over the edges of these iron 
mountains furnishing unlimited power, and at all points; the ore is 
interstratified with limestone for fluxing; and the neighboring mountain 
slopes abound with fuel. And if this were not sufficient, the distance is 
only twenty-five miles to the State line, where a railroad will shortly 
bring mineral fuel from Chattanooga. Nothing is wanting but transportation 
to develop here a manufacturing interest equal to any on the continent.

   "The other principal iron bed is that of Mitchell County, near the head 
of Toe River. This ore is found in the gneissic series of rocks, and is 
magnetic or gray ore. It occurs in an immense bed of hornblende slate and 
syenite, near the base of the Yellow Mountains and a few miles from the 
State line. The outcrop is on the lower slope of the mountain, perhaps 200 
feet above its base, and reveals a network of heavy'veins'or beds, 
extending over several acres of surface. It is inexhaustible in quantity. 
The iron manufactured in the bloomaries of the neighborhood has been long 
celebrated for its tenacity and durability, and is admirably adapted to 
the manufacture of steel. It is known as the Cranberry iron, from a small 
stream near the ore banks. Here, also exist the best natural facilities 
for the manufacture of iron. Water power and fuel in the greatest 
profusion are at hand, and the only difficulty here, too, is in the matter 
of transportation, which, however, could be readily overcome.

   "Magnetic ore is found in many other localities, and no doubt this 
Cranberry ore will be discovered in other outcrops in these mountains. Ore 
of the same character appears at the western base of the mountain at Flat 
Rock, which is probably a continuation of the same series of beds. 
Magnetic ore occurs near Marshall also, in Madison County, and again near 
Fines Creek, in Haywood; in each case, having the same association of 
hornblendic rocks. It is also found in Macon County at several points, 
here in a garnetiferous mica schist. Hematite ore occurs, at one or two 
points in Buncombe, and a bed of it also overlies the limestone in 
Transylvania County, appearing again with it on the North Fork in 
McDowell. This association with limestone, which occurs so frequently, is 
not accidental, but points to the origin of these ores."

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Gold Mines.

   North Carolina has been celebrated for half a century as a gold-mining 
country, and the reports of the U. S. Mint show that more than ten 
millions of dollars' worth of gold has come from this State to the Mint 
for coinage. Previous to 1869 there had been coined at the Branch Mint at 
Charlotte, North Carolina, $4,520,730 of North Carolina gold, and at the 
U. S. Mint at Philadelphia, $4,666,026 of the same production. These 
items, with $147,756 assayed at New York, and $99,585 coined at Dahlonega, 
represent a known addition to the gold coin of the country of $9,434,097, 
while it is probable that at least $2,500,000 in value passed into use in 
the arts, was sent abroad, or was retained in some way from the mint. 
Since the war about $400,000 in gold has been received at the Mint and 
Assay offices from North Carolina, the amount in 1868 being about $100,
000. In 1866 it was over $140,000. The gold mines of the State are all in 
positions of very ready access, and, whatever their production may be, are 
very easily and cheaply worked. The quartz veins, and other gold-bearing 
rocks, are all up-tilted and broken down by the great geological forces 
which swept over the State east of the Blue Ridge. They all stand on edge 
over a surface generally very little broken up into hills or mountains, 
and, with good machinery, any vein promising a fair return, should be 
worked with profit.

   The principal mines are west of the centre of the State, and about half 
way from Raleigh to the foot of the Blue Ridge. Cabarrus County is 
distinguished as the place of original discovery, and one piece of pure 
gold, weighing twenty-eight pounds, was found there. All the counties of 
that section of the State, which is drained chiefly by the Yadkin and 
Catawba Rivers, abound in gold. It is also found as far east as Franklin 
County, north of Raleigh. Not only are all the primary rock formations of 
the State east of the Blue Ridge often found to yield gold, but the 
mountain counties west of the Blue Ridge also show valuable gold deposits. 
Prof. W. C. Kerr, the present State Geologist, says in his report for 
1860, that Cherokee and Jackson Counties, 

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in the extreme southwest show gold freely at the western foot of the Blue 
Ridge.

   "There are two principal gold regions in the mountain section, one in 
Cherokee, and the other in Jackson. The gold belt of Cherokee is in the 
same body of slates which carries the limestone and iron. It is found both 
in the veins and in superficial deposits. The sands of Valley River yield 
it profitably through a large part of its course, and some very rich 
washings have been found along its tributary streams on the north side. 
The origin of this gold is very near the limestone. A remarkably rich vein 
has been opened near the town of Murphy, known as No. 6, which immediately 
underlies the marble. This is a silver-lead quartz vein in which is 
imbedded a large percentage of free gold. There is a strong probability of 
other similar veins having furnished the golden sands of the river and 
streams above mentioned.

   "On the southeast of the limestones is also a series of diggings along 
the lower slopes of the mountains from near Valley Town to Vengeance 
Creek, a distance of twelve or fifteen miles. The gold is found here in 
the drift which covers the lower spurs and terminal ridges of the 
mountains south of Valley River. . . . The continuation of this gold belt 
sent westward is rendered probable by the existence of several valuable 
mines in this direction beyond the Hiwassee, as the Warren mine on 
Brasstown, Creek, and others on Notteley River, in Georgia. . . . The gold 
of Jackson County is also obtained almost entirely from washings . . . The 
most important locality is Fairfield Valley, where Georgetown Creek, one 
of the head streams of the Toxaway, is said to have yielded between $200,
000 and $300,000. The deposits extend several miles."

   The latest Geological Report of Professor Kerr, which has just been 
issued, May, 1869, has an interesting description of the gold producing 
districts of the east side of the Blue Ridge, and along the South 
Mountains, which we extract from as follows:--

   "In the Piedmont section there are three gold placers of considerable 
note. One of these is at Sandy Plains in Polk County. The gold is found in 
the gravel from the debris of denuded hills of mica schist. This gravel is 
found in the beds of small streams, over an area of several miles. These 
diggings are still wrought in a small way. No veins have been discovered. 
The most extensive and notable deposit in this region, and in the State, 
is found in the South Mountains on the head waters of the First and Second 
Broad, and of Silver and Muddy Creeks. It is divided into four principal 
districts, on the above mentioned streams, which are named respectively 
Whiteside, Jeanstown, Brindletown, and Brackettown. The whole area 
occupied, interruptedly, by this deposit, is between one and two hundred 
square miles. These mines were opened about the year 1830, and were 
operated on a large scale, but in a rude way, until the discovery of the 
California mines. Some thousands of laborers were at work here for a 
number of 

Page 41

years, and no doubt several millions of gold were obtained. Work is still 
carried on at a great many points, and several thousands of dollars are 
annually mined. The deposits were originally very rich, and yielded 
frequently ten dollars a day for each laborer. The gold bearing drift or 
gravel is accumulated along the beds of the streams, on the benches of the 
hills, and in all the various situations which have, in California, given 
rise to the division into river, hill, bench, flat, and gulch diggings. 
Some of the deposits on the larger streams are quite extensive, and of 
considerable depth. Many of them have been worked over several times. The 
processes heretofore employed were of the rudest kind, and no doubt the 
introduction of the improved California methods would render the mines 
again very profitable. Many of the hill and bench deposits have never been 
worked, and could not be except by the hydraulic process. The gold of 
these placers has evidently been derived from the numerous small veins in 
the, slopes of the adjacent hills and mountains. The gangue of these veins 
is usually a granular white quart (saccharoid). They are small, and have 
not been mined hitherto. Machinery has been put up, however, near 
Brackettown for the purpose of working one of these saccharoidal veins, 
which seems to be nearly a foot in thickness.

   "The third gold field referred to is in Caldwell County, on Lower 
Creek. Operations have been carried on here on a considerable scale on 
both sides of the creek, but mostly on the north side, along the beds of 
the tributary streams, which come down from the terminal spurs and ridges 
of the Warrior Mountains dividing the waters of Lower Creek from John's 
River . . . . There are many other places where gold has been obtained 
from gravel in considerable amounts, as in the beds of some small streams 
on the slopes of the hill, three to four miles west of Morganton, where 
gold washing is still carried on profitably; also in the waters of the 
Second Broad, in Rutherford; on Pacolet River, in Polk County, and in 
several parts of Cleveland and Lincoln Counties.

   "The Shuford mine in the eastern part of Catawba, which contains both 
placers and veins is situated in the King's Mountain belt. It has been 
worked for a number of years with very satisfactory results, and 
operations are to be resumed shortly. These are dry diggings, and the 
difficulty is in procuring a supply of water. Vein mining has never been 
extensively carried on in this region. The Mountain Mining Company were 
erecting machinery during last summer to operate the quartz vein already 
mentioned, and were about to reopen a mine some four miles south of Shelby 
which is neither a vein nor a placer mine. The gold-bearing rock is a 
heavy ledge of brown, ferruginous mica-schist, which is impregnated with 
iron pyrites in a state of minute subdivision, and abounds in garnets. 
There is no semblance of a vein proper. Dr. Emmons reports that gold is 
found in the conglomerates of Montgomery, and the very intelligent 
superintendent of the Rhodes mine in Lincoln assured me that he obtained 
gold from the common gray gneiss of the country, which constitutes the 
wall rock of that vein; and at the King's Mountain in Gaston, large 
quantities of the limestone are stamped and washed. And I have seen gold-
bearing felspathic slates from Moore County, and talco-quartzose slates 
from Montgomery; so that, although the gangue rock of gold in this State 
is usually 

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quartz, compact, or saccharoidal, it is far from being universally so, nor 
is the occurrence of these auriferous rocks limited to veins.

   "There are two other mines in the Piedmont section that are worthy of 
mention, the Baker (or Davis), and the Michaux, both on John's Rivet, near 
the Caldwell and Burke line. The latter has yielded some very fine cabinet 
specimens, the veins being numerous, small, and in places very rich . . . 
. If we pass beyond the Piedmont group into the King's Mountain slates, 
there are many famous gold mines along this formation, and the gneissic 
rocks between it and the Lower Catawba; several of which have lately been 
reopened under favorable auspices; the King's Mountain mine, the Rhodes, 
Beattie, and two or three others. These are now operated by companies and 
under superintendents of California experience, in several cases with the 
most improved California machinery, manufactured in San Francisco. From 
these facts, and especially from the superior engineering skill which is 
now employed in these and several other such enterprises of the Mountain 
Mining Company, I infer that a new era is opening upon the mining 
interests of one State."

   But the most celebrated gold mines are in Cabarrus County, particularly 
the Reed mine, discovered in 1799, and from which more than a dozen 
nuggets, weighing, together more than 120 pounds, have been taken at 
different, times. The best of these mines are veins of quartz, or of slaty 
veinstone, with iron and copper pyrites associated. Many of these veins 
are as promising as those of California or Colorado, and if worked by 
powerful machinery, would, in the opinion of most persons who have 
compared them, yield better than those celebrated districts of the Pacific 
coast. Quartz crushing machinery has been but little tried, however, the 
people having heretofore passed these rich districts by to waste their 
energies on a more distant field. A great deal of successful placer or 
surface mining has been done in Burke and other counties at the eastern 
part of the Blue Ridge. It is estimated that more than a million of 
dollars has been so obtained in Burke County alone. It is a peculiarity of 
most of the previous washing of sands in search of gold in North Carolina, 
that only the rudest processes were employed, and not only was the 
separation of the gold imperfect in such as was washed, but much rich 
material has been left untouched.

   It will be an inviting field to an Eastern or Northern man who would 
like to try gold mining without going to California, to buy a tract in 
this tempting region, and while he prosecutes 

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farming or any other business as a general pursuit, try his hand at 
leisure times in obtaining gold from his own lands. Some of the best and 
most profitable of gold mining in the State, heretofore has been conducted 
by thrifty farmers in the intervals of other employment. The present 
writer has personally seen several who have thus saved money, and who 
were, at the time, travelling in the Northern States, and designing still 
to return and continue the double employment by which their wealth had 
been acquired.

   We would be able to give, a more complete directory to the gold mines 
and gold-producing localities, were the written accounts heretofore 
published as definite as they should be. The best way is to go to 
Salisbury, a town of easy access by the North Carolina Railroad from 
Raleigh by way of Greensboro; and on reaching Salisbury, make 
examinations, first in Cabarrus, Stanly and Anson Counties, for vein 
mining; next westward to Burke County for the surface "diggings," and also 
beyond the Blue Ridge, if possible, to the washings at the western foot of 
the Blue Ridge, in the extreme southwest, before described. The North 
Carolina Railroad is being rapidly extended in the direction of the 
passage of the Blue Ridge, at Swannanoa Gap, and the road to Asheville by 
way of this gap is not at all difficult.

   There are valuable and interesting, mines of gold and copper near 
Greensboro, also, which are described in the list of vein mines.

   The annual production of gold in North Carolina is now, probably, about 
twice the value of that which reaches the mint. This amount sent to the 
mint was, in 1868, $89,805 in value. While it may be much more, it cannot 
be less than $180,000; and probably a better estimate would be about $250,
000 as the present annual value of these gold mines. The list of vein gold 
mines on page 47, following, will give as good an account of the condition 
of that branch of gold mining in the States, as is practicable now to be 
obtained.

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Silver Mines.

   Silver mining is of sufficient importance in several counties to 
justify an allusion to it. In Davidson County, at a locality known as 
Silver Hill the Washington mine is the most valuable of those. While 
silver was in demand for coinage, a small annual product came to the mint 
from North Carolina; the whole in three years 1859 to 1861, reaching $41,
888. But four times as much would go into use in the arts, even then, and 
now it all takes that direction.

   Silver is found here, as elsewhere, in combination with various other 
metals; with gold, copper, lead and zinc. The silver-bearing rocks are the 
slates at their line of contact with the granite, and along the line of 
this contact, both northeast and southwest from the Davidson County mines, 
there are many localities where silver is found. The principal mines 
southwestward are the Conrad, McMakin, and Stewart mines. Prof. Kerr's 
references to these mines are so clear and brief that we reproduce them. 
In the report of 1866 he says:-- 

   "SILVER.--It will be observed that the richest gold mines lie along and 
near the line of contact of the slates and granite. And it is also along 
this line that the principal silver mines of this State are found. The 
most noted of these are at Silver Hill, in Davidson County. The 
combination of metal here is quite complex, including, with the silver, 
gold, lead, copper and zinc. A chain of similar mines runs southwest along 
the western border of the States, including the McMakin and Stewart mines. 
During the war the first named of these mines yielded a considerable 
quantity of lead. It had been previously worked chiefly for silver and 
gold. The same association of metals occurs in Cherokee."

   Also in the report of Prof. Kerr just published (1869) the following 
reference is made:-- 

   "SILVER AND LEAD.--These two metals are associated in their ores in 
this State. On the north slope of the Beech Mountain in Watauga County, on 
the waters of Watauga River at two points galena has lately been 
discovered which is rich in silver . . . A similar outcrop of galena was 
found a number of years ago at Flint Knob, in Wilkes County. The ore is of 
good quality, containing both gold and silver; but no exposure of the vein 
has been effected, from which a reasonable conclusion can be drawn as to 
its extent and value. The ore, so far as exposed, is in a coarse slaty 
gneiss."

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Copper.

   Ores of copper are very frequently found in almost all parts of the 
State, and at some points they have been mined very successfully. A few 
years since quite a fever of speculation raged in regard to copper mines, 
and in the pursuit of the mineral gossan, which is supposed to indicate 
the locality of veins of ores. This gossan is a showy sulphuret of iron, 
or iron pyrites, found on the surface after the decomposition and waste of 
copper veins, and from which no metal can be extracted. The ore is always 
in the vicinity, however, and can be worked with profit when opened. Prof. 
Kerr, in 1866, says:-- 

   "I am not aware of the existence of copper in the mountain section, 
except in what I have called the Jackson belt; because it is in this 
county that the formation receives its principal development, although it 
crosses the whole breadth of the State, and has yielded copper at several 
points in Macon on one side, and Hayward, on the other . . . The copper 
belt occupies the whole middle portion of Jackson County, from the head-
waters of Tuckasegee River, northward to Scott's and Savannah Creeks, and 
probably several miles beyond . . . Many of the deposits are of the most 
promising character, and the veins are of unusual size. The principal 
points where mining has been carried on are Cullowhee, Waryhut, and 
Savannah; although work has been done, and symptoms of the presence of 
copper discovered at many other places--as at Shell Ridge, Scott's Creek, 
Sugar Loaf, Panther Knob, Wolf Creek, etc. The great Cullowhee, where the 
best exposure has been made, is eight or nine feet thick; at Waryhut, five 
or six feet; at Savannah, where there are several veins or beds of ore, 
the largest which has been opened is nine or ten feet. In several of the 
above localities copper was found within a few feet of the surface. The 
outcrop, in all cases, is the mineral known among miners as gossan--really 
an ore of iron, resulting from the weathering and decomposition of the 
exposed ore, which is yellow copper, or copper pyrites . . . These copper 
deposits will, no doubt, under a judicious system of mining, give rise to 
many valuable mines."

   Many of the gold mines first worked were abandoned because of the 
greater abundance of copper pyrites than of gold ores, and they have since 
been reopened as copper mines. They are, therefore, abundant in all the 
central counties, in Chatham, Guilford, Davidson, Rowan, Cabarrus, and 
Mecklenburg. The Greensboro mines are valued now as much for copper as for 
gold. The Gillis mine, in Person County, on the border of Virginia, is a 
noted copper mine.

Page 46

   "The three most noted copper mines in the northwestern part of the 
State are the Elk Knob, Peach Bottom, and Ore Knob. The first is one of 
the most promising outcrops of copper ore in the State. It is a large vein 
of the yellow sulphuret imbedded in the most extensive body of hornblendic 
rocks in the State. The vein rock is a dark-colored micaceous quartzite, 
nine or ten feet in thickness. It is situated on the northern slope of the 
mountain from which it is named, at an elevation of about four thousand 
feet . . . The Peach Bottom mine is situated on the west side of the 
mountain range of that name in Alleghany County, and a few miles south of 
the New river. This mine was well furnished with machinery for the 
elevation and concentration of the ore; it has been wrought to a depth of 
one hundred and fifty feet . . . A portion of the vein also yields lead. 
Large quantities of the ore were sent to the smelting works at Petersburg 
during the war. . . Ore Knob is in the southeast part of Ashe County, 
quite near the Blue Ridge, in the same character of rock formations as the 
last. It is said to have yielded several thousand tons of ore within a 
depth of 60 or 70 feet. The vein is said to be a large one. The ore 
is'yellow copper,'as in the other mines. I have no doubt that all these 
mines could be profitably reopened, but for the difficulty of 
transportation to market. In the southeast corner of Ashe County is 
another mine of some note, known as Gap Creek. Dr. Emmons visited it when 
first opened, and reports that at'a depth of 50 to 60 feet the ore is 
vitreous, which will probably be twice as rich as the yellow 
sulphuret."(Prof. Kerr, 1869.)

   The results of copper mining heretofore can scarcely be stated. In 1860 
the county of Alleghany reported one establishment, employing twenty men; 
and Guilford County also reported one, with a capital of $60,000, 
employing 180 men and ten women, and producing copper to the value of $100,
000. The aggregate value is now twice what it was in 1860, and a little 
capital employed in developing the present mines could be richly repaid. 
This form of the ore is far less refractory in reduction than most others 
in Virginia, and the States northward, where the very hardest of state 
veins form the copper-bearing rocks. In the very brief list of copper 
mines which follows, but a small proportion can be named, and it will be 
seen that almost every gold mine is also a copper mine, the Gardner mine 
in Guilford Count being a conspicuous instance.

Page 47

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL GOLD, SILVER, AND COPPER MINES.

Where the Gold is found in Quartz Veins and Fissures.

   Conrad Hill Gold Mine, a celebrated mining property, both for gold and 
copper, is in the north part of Davidson County, six miles east of 
Lexington. It is a low hill, very easy of access, the gold being found in 
quartz veins, of which six have been identified. The gold is found pure, 
in pockets, and in the quartz itself, and also in the form of sulphurets. 
Some of the veins now show copper largely, and may, perhaps, be more 
profitably worked for copper than for gold.

   Dodge Hill is a mining property in the immediate vicinity of Conrad 
Hill, having the same formation, and, it is believed, the same veins. It 
has not been worked or opened so fully, but is certainly a valuable 
deposit.

   Gold Hill Mine, perhaps the most celebrated gold mine, is located on 
the southern border of Rowan County, 14 miles south of Salisbury. It had 
produced of gold, up to 1856, more than $2,000,000; of which sum $400,000 
came from a vein found on Troutman's land, and worked only to 100 feet in 
depth. The Honeycut vein yielded over $100,000; and the Earnhardt vein, 
the richest of all, yielded nearly $150,000 a year for some time after its 
discovery. The Barnhardt, another vein, yielded well at the opening, and 
the Randolph pocket, as it was called, gave splendid specimens of native 
gold. Much speculative management at one time took place in regard to this 
mine, and it was for a long time regularly put on the stock boards in New 
York. The ordinary forms of mills and machinery have generally been used, 
the separation of the gold being only by crushing and amalgamation with 
mercury. The vein stone is a combination of iron and copper pyrites, 
interspersed with seams and masses of quartz.

   This celebrated mine was first opened about 1842, and has at times 
employed a large number of miners, the Earnhardt vein alone employing 66 
white miners, and 39 negroes in 1854, at an average cost of$4000 per 
month, and realizing a net profit of $76,000 in 13 months. It is claimed 
that it always yielded a profit on the working for gold.

   Reed Gold Mine, another celebrated mine, is in Cabarrus County, and is 
the oldest locality at which gold was found in the State. A lump of gold 
of three or four pounds weight was found here in 1799; in 1803 one of 28 
pounds; in 1804, five lumps, weighing 1 1/4 to 9 pounds were found; in 
1826, one of 16 pounds, one of 9 1/2, and one of 8 pounds; in 1835, one of 
13 3/4, one of 4 1/2 one of 5, and another of 8 pounds weight--in all, 
these lumps weighed 115 1/4 pounds avoirdupois. This mine has not been 
worked regularly, and the character of the veins is not so well known. A 
valuable vein of galena, or sulphuret of lead, has been found on this 
property.

   The Phifer Gold Mine, in Union County, was for some time a very 
successful mining property, obtaining the name of the Mint, for this 
reason.

   The Davis Gold Mine, also in Union County, was also long a profitable 
mine. It was worked to a depth of 90 feet, and abandoned temporarily.

   The Pewter Mine is another gold and silver mine of Union County, in 
which the gold is found alloyed with 40 to 70 per cent. of silver, giving 
the metal a whitish appearance.

   The Hearne Gold Mine is in Stanley County, 2 ½ miles west of Albemarle. 
It is a quartz vein, yielding gold freely, and has been successfully 
worked. The 

Page 48

vein is three feet wide, and has been traced a mile. Eight quarts of the 
rock selected at one time, yielded $80 in gold.

   Long Creek Gold Mine is on the High Shoal property of the Little 
Catawba River. It was extensively worked for many years, sometimes 
yielding $3 per bushel of ore as taken from the vein. It has the same 
quartz vein, with iron and copper pyrites.

   The Carter Gold Mine is a well-known and valuable mine of Montgomery 
County. It is peculiar in having crystalline limestone associated with the 
quartz of the vein, and in the presence of telluret of gold with the 
limestone.

   The Reynolds Gold Mine is in Montgomery County, 6 miles northeast of 
Troy. There is some silver in the ore, and the mine has been worked at a 
moderate profit.

   The Kings' Mountain Gold Mine has a vein of porous quartz, 6 to 7 feet 
wide in which native gold is diffused. It contains crystalline limestone 
in the lower workings, mingled with the quartz, and often bearing gold. It 
has been worked successfully for many years by Mr. Briggs.

   The McCulloch Gold and Copper Mine, near Greensboro, is a celebrated 
mine for both gold and copper. The gold is in a quartz vein, of varying 
width, but growing much larger at a depth of 80 to 100 feet, and with a 
distinct vein of copper pyrites. Native gold is abundant in the quartz, 
and the copper is rich enough for profitable working alone. It is now 
worked with a large capital, both for copper and for gold. Including what 
is called the Lindsay vein, this great vein is more than a mile in length, 
and with a close management, will largely repay the capital employed in 
working it. The copper ore yields 30 per cent. of pure copper.

   The Fisher Hill Gold Mine in the same vicinity is in a vein of quartz, 
without any copper or iron sulphurets. It can, therefore be roasted before 
grinding, and yields in average of $3 per bushel, as raised from the mine.

   Hodge's Hill Mine is a mine containing a variety of minerals and 
metals. The ore of copper is rich, but the gold has not been found in such 
abundance as to be profitable.

   The Lindsay Mine is a continuation of the McCulloch Mine; it has been 
separately worked, but not with so much success.

   The Gardner Mine, near Jamestown, and in the same cluster of mining 
properties, is a quartz vein, very rich in gold, and also rich in copper 
pyrites, yielding 30 per cent. of pure copper. It has paid large profits 
on the gold working alone. It has been worked to a depth of 110 feet, 
yielding better there than at less depth.

   The Beason, the Harlan and the Beard mines are other gold mines of this 
Guilford County group, all being southwest of Greensboro, and near 
Jamestown, of that county. They have been worked successfully in some 
cases, but were afterwards abandoned.

   The Rudersill Gold Mine, near Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, is a well-
known mine, at one time thought to be as profitable as any in the State. 
It is native gold, in quartz veins, the accompanying rocks being slate and 
granite, with some copper ore in and near the veins. There are two or 
three veins that have been worked, giving one dollar of gold per bushel of 
quartz mined. The ore is crushed by steam power.

Page 49

   The Dunn Mine, seven miles from Charlotte, has been worked for gold, 
but not profitably.

   The Phoenix Mine, in Cabarrus County, has produced ore yielding one to 
three dollars in gold per bushel. It is located 14 miles S. E. from 
Concord.

   The Barrier Mine, near the Phoenix Mine, is a productive gold mine.

   The Orchard Mine, an extension of the Phoenix Mine eastward, produces 
both gold and copper, but not largely.

   The Pioneer Gold Mines constitute a cluster, twelve miles east of 
Concord, and produce both gold and copper. The vein is quartz, and the 
surrounding rock granite. With one pair of Chilian millstones in 
operation, 30 to 40 bushels of ore were ground per day, with an average 
yield of gold of $3 30 per bushel. In the vicinity of this mine, on the 
Morrison plantation, there are four veins bearing gold, and one rich both 
in gold and copper.

   The Long Mine, 2 miles N. W. of the Pioneer, is a vertical vein of 
crumbling quartz, two feet wide, and as rich in gold as the pioneer.

   Rymer Gold Mine is 6 miles east of Salisbury, to the left of the road 
leading to Gold Hill. The gold is in a three-foot vein of pale-colored 
sulphuret of iron, forming part of a vein fissure of quartz, 7 feet wide. 
It contains no copper, and may be treated by roasting. It is said to be 
productive.

   The Jones and Lafflin Mines in Davidson County, belong to a class of 
gold mines different from those above described, and in which the gold is 
found in rocks of sedimentary deposit and not in intruded veins. The Jones 
Mine is largely worked from a bed of soft slate and quartz, 60 feet wide 
and 30 feet high, yielding 15 to 30 cents of gold per bushel. The Lafflin 
mine, one mile from the other, is worked in a soft bed of slate, forty 
feet deep, and is very productive.

   The Delft Mine, near the Lafflin, is another of this class; and the 
Robbins Mine, in Randolph County, with the very productive Sawyer Mine, of 
the same county, are others of the same class, the gold being found in 
beds of soft, sandy slate 

   The Zion Mine, 12 miles from Troy, in Montgomery County, is a deposit 
of gold in quartz, overlying a conglomerate. More than $ 100,000 have been 
taken from this deposit, and the singular fact is well authenticated that 
the gold bearing rock contains fossils.

   The Howie Mine, in Union County, is another yielding gold from 
sedimentary rocks. It is usually called the Howie and Lawson Gold Mines, 
and is located in the hills of this county, near the State line. The gold 
is found in seams or beds of slate and granular quartz, and the yield is 
$1 50 to $3 00 per bushel of the mined rock.

   The Ward Mine, in Davidson County, has its gold in quartzite seams, 
horizontal, or slightly inclined, in slate rocks, not in vertical veins. 
The gold is crystallized, and lies in pockets of red clay, some of them 
having $500 or $600 of crystallized gold. There are 20 or 30 of this 
peculiar class of gold mines in all.

   The Hoover Hill Gold Mine of Randolph County, is another of this class.

   The Cansler and Shuford Gold Mine, in Catawba County, 16 miles N. E. of 
Lincolnton, is another of this class, from which a large amount of gold 
has been obtained.

   The Portis Mine in Franklin County, is remarkable for the quantity of 
gold found in lumps, the deposit being in seams, not veins.

Page 50

   The Parker Mine, in Stanley County, also has its gold in seams. $200,
000 in gold have been taken out.

   The Beaver Dam Mine in Montgomery County, has been a very productive 
mine of this class.

Silver Mines.

   The Washington Silver Mine is one of the most important and valuable in 
North Carolina. It is located S. E. of Salisbury, and not far from Gold 
Hill, the locality being called Silver Hill. The mine consists of two 
heavy veins, originally exposed by the plough, on a low rounded hill of 
but 50 feet elevation. The vein is slate, looking much like other slate, 
but being perceptibly heavier, and containing both native silver, and 
silver in combination with galena, or sulphuret of lead. Though these are 
the leading metals, there are also gold, zinc, and copper, the zinc being 
particularly abundant. The zinc has interfered with the successful working 
of the silver, at some times, and a great variety of metallic forms and 
combinations has been disclosed in the workings of the mine. Black, steel-
grained zinc ore; galena, with silver combined, and fine arborescent 
native silver, are the most common products. Some of the ore yields as 
high as 38 per cent. of lead, and 3 per cent. of silver. By methods 
recently adopted, the zinc is separated in the form of blende and 3 tons 
of the silver lead ore can be smelted daily, yielding 100 ounces to each 
ton, and worth $10 per ounce. An extension of the Washington silver veins 
has been discovered near A. J. Moore's, 3 miles west of Spencer's P. O., 
which is quite as valuable as the portion so long worked.

   McMackin Silver Mine is 1 ½ miles S. W. of Gold Hill, and in the same 
formations as the gold mines, but the mineral veins are like those of the 
Washington mine. It is in all respects similar in its products to the mine 
above described. Phosphates and carbonates of lead are found here, also, 
and a fine imitation of French chalk. It has been worked much less than 
the Washington mine.

Copper Mines.

   The North Carolina Copper Mine, in Guilford County, sometimes called 
the Fentress mine, has been traced for 3 miles by the external show of 
quartz. It is a vein of quartz and carbonate of iron, from one to three or 
four feet thick, the copper being in the form of yellow pyrites, or 
sulphuret, yielding 15 to 80 percent. of fine copper. Most of this ore was 
formerly shipped to Boston for reduction, and was sold for a price 
dependent on the percentage of copper in it. About 1500 tons of the ore 
had been sent out up to 1856 (Emmons.)

   The Ludowick, Boger, and Hill Mines 12 miles from Gold Hill, in 
Cabarrus County, are veins yielding the yellow sulphuret of copper 
largely, and promising profitable results when worked.

   The Twin Mine 6 miles S. W. of Greensboro, shows two veins, each 18 
inches thick, and only about 4 feet apart, containing quartz thickly 
crowded with yellow sulphuret of copper.

   Headrick Copper Mine is composed of veins of copper and iron pyrites 
intruded through slate formations. The veins have been traced more than a 
mile, and there is no doubt of its value as a mine.

Page 51

   The Spencer Copper Mine, in Randolph County, has a promising sulphuret 
vein.

   The Standard property, near Gold Hill, and a large number of gold 
mines, before named, yield large quantities of rich copper ore.

   The Little Tennessee Copper Mine is 10 miles south of Franklin, Macon 
County, near the Tennessee River. It is only about a mile from the Rabun 
Gap Railroad, and four miles from the Georgia State line. It is a bed of 
black ore, the form in which the yellow sulphuret is found after 
decomposition of the iron pyrites, and the washing out of the sulphur from 
both, by the long exposure to which the upper part of the original vein 
has been subjected. Great quantities of gossan, or wasted iron oxide, 
resulting from the same decomposition, abound on the surface, and the 
great promise afforded by the external indications has been fully borne 
out by the results of the openings so far made.

   The Nantahala Copper Mine is four miles southwest of Franklin, Macon 
County, and two or three miles from the track of the railroad. It is a 
broad mineral vein, with a large quantity of both the yellow sulphuret and 
the black oxide of copper within easy reach.

   The celebrated Ducktown Copper Mines are just across the line in 
Tennessee, the geological formation, the ores, and the form of mixing, 
being exactly the same as in all the mines west of the Blue Ridge, or 
particularly those just described. The Ducktown mines show what this class 
of mines is capable of producing. They were discovered in 1850, and in 
spite of great difficulties in transporting the ore, they had produced, up 
to 1853, 14,291 tolls of copper ore, which was sold for more, than a 
million dollars. In September, 1855, seven mines of that vicinity produced 
807 tons of ore, worth $80,000, or at the rate of nearly $1,000,000 
annually.

   The Hiwassee Copper Mine, in the vicinity of the Ducktown, and also 
just across the line of Tennessee, is scarcely less celebrated or less 
productive than the Ducktown.

   The average product of pure copper from the black oxide and the 
sulphuret of these North Carolina mines is more than twice as great as the 
Cornwall mines of England. Pressed ore from the Cornwall mines ranges from 
four to eight per cent. of pure copper only, while this North Carolina 
ore, as mined, yields from ten to fifty per cent., the average being about 
twenty-five per cent.

Lead, Zinc, etc.

   Lead, as we have before said, was produced largely during the war from 
the Conrad and McMakin silver mine, but at other times, no regular working 
for lead has been done. It would pay to reduce the galena, so often found 
with other ores, more systematically than has before been attempted; and 
the fullest proof of this fact is furnished in the production of lead at 
these mines during the Confederate authority.

   Both lead and zinc occur in connection with the primary iron ores in 
North Carolina as they do in New Jersey; and in many cases it will be 
found profitable to construct works for 

Page 52

reducing them. In no country are the valuable metals found more frequently 
associated in the same mineral veins than in North Carolina.

   Zinc is abundant in many of the gold-bearing veins of Cabarrus and 
Davidson Counties, and as it was formerly much neglected, if not wholly 
unknown to the miners, it is probable that it will be found still more 
largely when it is found to be capable of profitable working. It is found 
principally, if not wholly, in the form of sulphuret, better known as zinc 
blende--a fine grained and hard mineral, of an ash-gray color, with some 
metallic lustre, resembling, in some degree the more abundant galena, or 
sulphuret of lead, with which it is often found associated in the mine. 
Much difficulty has been experienced in working the silver ores of the 
Washington and other similar mines in consequence of the presence of zinc, 
and for a long time it was not properly known what this intrusive 
sulphuret was.

   Several promising veins of zinc blende are known, one at the Jacob 
Troutman gold mine, one mile east of Gold Hill. At 100 feet below the 
surface it first appeared, two inches thick; 50 feet deeper it is six 
inches thick. This would well repay working. At the Washington silver mine 
of Davidson County, zinc blende is abundant, and also at the McMackin mine 
in Cabarrus County. It is believed that not only zinc itself, but the 
white oxide, so valuable as a paint, may be readily and profitably made at 
these blende mines.

   CHROMIC IRON, the basis of many paints, is found in considerable 
quantities in nearly every county west of the Blue, Ridge. It is claimed 
by geologists that it can be mined to advantage there for transportation 
to any market. 

   IRON PYRITES (sulphuret of iron) is found in great abundance in 
Cleveland and Rutherford Counties, and, during the war, copperas and alum 
were made there. Prof. Kerr says in the report just made, May, 1869:-- 

   "The rock weathers easily on exposure to the air, and produces copperas 
and alum in immense quantities. Thousands of tons were manufactured here 
during the war, and the business might still be profitably conducted. The 
circumstances under which copperas is made in Vermont and elsewhere are 
not more favorable. The only disadvantage here is in 

Page 53

the matter of transportation to market, which, however, is likely soon to 
be remedied."

   Iron pyrites is found abundantly in the gold-bearing veins, and also 
with copper pyrites; sometimes misleading alike those who expect too much, 
and others who expect too little from it. Though often a brilliant colored 
mineral, it is neither gold nor copper; but it may be associated with one 
or both of them, as found in North Carolina, and it is valuable of itself, 
being easily converted into copperas, which is sulphate of iron.

   GRAPHITE, or Plumbago, is found in abundance in Wake County, a few 
miles west of Raleigh, and extending a distance of eighteen or twenty 
miles southwestward. It is in veins, six to eighteen inches in width, with 
quartz associated, and the veins clipping at an angle of 60° or 70°. It is 
highly valued as a paint, but contains too much silex for use as pencils, 
or as anti-friction bearings. In Lincoln County, on the border of Catawba 
County, other extensive deposits exist, reported to be of good quality, 
also. Where so much is found, it is scarcely possible that the best forms 
of the mineral will not ultimately be discovered. The black-lead beds of 
Wake County alone exceed in extent all others known. They have been 
worked, and the product refined at Raleigh, for some years with fair 
success.

   The true black-lead, or graphite, as it is called in the mineral form, 
is frequently found in the King's Mountain district, in Catawba, Lincoln, 
and Gaston Counties. It is a pure carburet of iron, and might be expected 
in the vicinity of such iron ores as are found there; and wherever found 
it is very valuable.

   MICA is found in the mountain counties in the largest sizes known, 
furnishing plates six by eight inches, and free from spots or flaws. 
"Plates four inches by six, when clear and free from flaws, are worth 
about a dollar and a half per pound." (Kerr.)

   DIAMONDS of large size have been found in the King's Mountain district, 
and in McDowell County is found the flexible sandstone, Itacolumite of the 
mineralogist, in which the diamond occurs in other parts of the world.

Page 54

   TUNGSTEN a rare metal, "which was long merely a chemical curiosity, but 
has recently assumed a high value, particularly on account of its relation 
to the manufacture of steel, occurs in Cabarrus County." (Prof. Kerr, 
Rept. of 1869.)

   ALUM AND COPPERAS SLATES.--Under the head of Iron Pyrites these 
formations have been referred to, the original mineral being chiefly that; 
but the original form being much changed by "weathering" or exposure. In 
his report of 1866, Prof. Kerr says:-- 

   "Alum and copperas slates abound in many parts of the State, and have 
been extensively brought into requisition during the late war. The 
counties of Cleveland and Rutherford alone contain not less than one 
hundred square miles of these rocks, and could easily supply the continent 
with cooperas. This material is derived by the process of weathering, from 
the iron pyrites, which is disseminated in great abundance, and in a state 
of extreme comminution through the slates, many of which, being 
feldspathic, also yield alum."


Limestone, Marble, Building Stone, &c.

   There are three formations in the western part of the State which 
afford supplies of limestone, and two beds east of the Blue Ridge, one of 
which extends through the State from Stokes County on the north, to Gaston 
and King's Mountain on the south. The other is in McDowell County, chiefly 
near the Blue Ridge. A small bed of limestone, approaching marl in its 
characteristics, is also found in the northeast parts of Wake County. The 
largest of the beds in the southwest is in Cherokee County, extending 
along Notteley and Valley Rivers, into Macon County. "It crops out along 
the banks and beds of the streams, in the fields and roads, and in the 
bluffs overhanging the rivers, so as to be easily accessible and 
convenient for agricultural purposes." (Kerr.) There are three other beds 
of limestone crossing the valley of the French Broad River, in Buncombe 
and the adjoining counties. Great quantities of lime are made here, and 
distributed to various districts for agricultural purposes. One of these 
belts is crystalline, and a natural marble; but unfit for use as marble, 
because of the presence of magnesia. The lower bed at Warm Springs, on the 
French Broad, is a solid blue limestone of great purity.

Page 55

   Limestone is extensively used for fertilizing purposes in both the 
mountain districts just referred to, and in the great central belt, from 
Gaston County northward. Its use may be and should be largely extended, 
and it is only too rare in some of the eastern counties where it may be 
particularly valuable. Prof. Emmons speaks of a white granular limestone 
in Stokes County, found in connection with primary rocks, which at 
Bolejack's quarries, four miles from Germantown, as well as at Martin's 
lime-kilns, is extensively quarried, and makes excellent lime. Prof. 
Emmons also refers to the peculiar limestone of the King's Mountain gold 
mine, and of the Carter gold mine, in Montgomery County in both cases 
containing gold. Practically, a valuable source for lime, and, therefore, 
an equivalent of limestone, is found, as we subsequently show, in the 
shell marls of the Eastern counties.

Marble.

   Marble is silly moderately abundant in the State, and it is found 
chiefly in the mountain counties west of the Blue Ridge. In the earlier 
examinations of the State, marble is scarcely referred to, but recently it 
has been found more largely in the southwest on the completion of the 
survey of the mountain counties.

   "The limestone of Valley River is all marble, although it is not 
everywhere sufficiently free from flaws and impurities for ornamental 
uses. There are several quarries, however, where the rocks crop out in 
fine quality and grain. The track of the proposed railroad lies along the 
line of these quarries, and will be built for many miles upon beds of 
solid marble. It is of several shades of color, generally white and blue 
to bluish-gray. I have seen specimens also of a fine mottled blue and 
white variety from the head of Valley River. But the finest grained and 
tinted specimens are found on Red Marble Creek and Nantehala River. The 
most beautiful shades are gray and rose to flesh-colored. I have seen no 
marbles from any part of the world superior to these." (Prof. Kerr's 
Report of 1866.)

   The marble here referred to is a continuation of the well-known 
beautifully variegated Tennessee marble beds. There is no reason why a 
large use of this marble should not be made at once for the local 
consumption, at least. All the western part of the State could be supplied 
at cheaper rates 

Page 56

than it could possibly be imported from other States or from abroad, and 
the fine polish these variegated marbles admit makes them desirable for 
variety in ornamental building in every part of the country. The railroad 
when laid will supply cheap transportation, and the State Geologist 
earnestly urges the practicability of putting these marble beds to 
immediate use.

Granites and Building Stone.

   The greater part of the surface of North Carolina belongs to the 
primary geological formations, arid good granite is found in many 
localities, as it is in the New England States, and in Virginia. There are 
two continuous belts of granite rocks crossing the State from northeast to 
southwest; the first or most eastern having Raleigh nearly central to it. 
It is called the Raleigh granite, and the noble State House at Raleigh is 
built of this material. This granite varies from a light to a dark gray, 
and some quarries of it have too much felspar, and it undergoes 
decomposition too readily when exposed. It extends from Weldon on the 
northeast by way of Raleigh across the State, to Richmond County and the 
Yadkin at the southwest, in many places furnishing the best possible 
building material. Another belt of granite passes in the same direction 
across the State, having Greensboro and Salisbury central to it. This is 
more properly to be called sienite, or syenitic granite, with felspar too 
abundant generally to make a firm and durable stone. Still, many quarries 
exist where it is a firm building material, equal in grain and texture to 
the best. This belt is full of mineral deposits and metallic veins. Gold 
and copper mines are abundant along the entire line of the belt. A very 
friable decomposing granite is found in Lincoln and Gaston Counties, west 
of the Catawba, but it is useless for building purposes.

   Between these granite belts there are fine belts of freestone or 
sandstone of red grain, mostly in the vicinity of the Deep River coal 
mines. This freestone is soft and easy to work when first opened, but it 
becomes very hard on exposure. Emmons describes the red sandstone 
underlying the coal of Deep River as a freestone, but it is really a 
formation like the 

Page 57

brown stone of Connecticut, and all agree that it is a superior building 
material. There is an upper red sandstone above the coal, but it is softer 
and less reliable as a building stone than the lower beds. Emmons says, 
"The lower sandstone is red or purplish-red, often deep red, or the color 
of a well burnt brick. It is made up of grains of quartz, which are rarely 
coarse; its texture is even, and many beds are firm, free from marly 
layers, and constitute an excellent freestone." "The red and purple 
sandstones abound in the lower red sandstone, with beds suitable for 
building stone. The color of these beds, whatever it may be, is lively and 
inviting. Indeed, no difference can be discovered between those of Deep 
River and those of the Hudson River, or the Connecticut River sandstone. 
As these beds are extensive they furnish at many points stone of a 
suitable quality for any purpose which may be required." (Report of 1856.) 
The stone marl of the low country also makes good building stone, as may 
be seen at Newbern.

   GRINDSTONES and WHETSTONES are found in many parts of the State. The 
Linville slates of Burke County furnish them, and at Adams' Knob, on Johns 
River, good material for grindstones is found. There are some sheets of 
the sandstones of the Deep River coal-fields that are suited for 
grindstone. Scythe stones are found on the Nantehala, in Macon County. In 
many places the quartzite rocks become fine grained, and well adapted to 
use as whetstones and hones.

   "In the midst of the gray stone beds, more particularly those which 
occupy a place between the two red sandstones, I have frequently observed 
valuable grits, which are suitable both for coarse and fine grindstones. 
Grindstones have, however, frequently been made from the reddish bed, as 
well as the drab and gray grits. These stones have been made to supply the 
wants of citizens far removed from the means of transporting heavy 
materials." (Emmons' Report of 1856.)

   MILLSTONES are particularly frequent and good in many parts of North 
Carolina. The county of Montgomery, Prof. Emmons says, can furnish 
buhrstones of the best quality, enough to supply the whole country. It is 
like the buhrstone of Paris, very tough and hard, and perfectly adapted to 
grinding wheat. This kind of rock is abundant in many places; 

Page 58

that on Laurel River in Madison County is also said to be equal to the 
French, and in Montgomery County, on the Yadkin, the same resemblance to 
the French buhrstone exists. This cellular quartz rock is found in nearly 
all of the western counties also. Still another form of millstone is found 
in the conglomerate rocks both above and below the coal of Deep River. 
"Beneath the red sandstone the conglomerate is so perfectly consolidated 
that it forms a valuable millstone." In this the rock is composed of 
cemented quartz pebbles, and in splitting it, these split in two, giving a 
grinding surface which is particularly well suited to corn mills, but not 
so well to wheat grinding. There are millstone quarries on Richland Creek, 
and Indian Creek. The best are quarried in Moore County, where "they make 
an excellent corn stone, which, when broken from the quarry, split across 
the pebbles of quartz without removing them from their beds.""Several 
quarries are opened in Moore County, and from them the country is 
principally supplied."(Emmons.)

   SERPENTINE of fine quality for ornamental purposes is found near 
Patterson, in the Upper Yadkin Valley. "It is of a dark blue color, and 
beautifully veined with chrysolite, furnishing an excellent material for 
mantels, table tops, and other ornamental uses."(Prof. Kerr.) Extensive 
dykes of serpentine exist in many places, which frequently contain mineral 
deposits and metal veins.

   ROOFING and FLAGGING SLATES abound in the belt of slate formations 
which extends through the State from Anson and Union Counties, on the 
south, to the Virginia line on the north. This belt is forty miles wide 
and it produces a great variety of slates useful for practical purposes.

   SOAPSTONE of two varieties is found, one being the soapstone proper, 
and found in Wake, Moore, Orange and Caldwell Counties. The other is a 
very rare mineral, in which alumina takes the place of magnesia, forming a 
white or greenish-white slaty rock, soapy to the feel, and admirably 
adapted as lining for stoves, chimney backs, mantel pieces, &c. It is 
perfectly adapted to resist fire. It is abundant at Hancock's mills, on 
Deep River, and at Troy, in Montgomery County.