1913] Geological History of Western 1^. C. 41 



ern ISTorth Carolina, except the Cranberry, where iron was being 

 made. A small amount of ore has been shipped from time to 

 time from various localities. 



Copper mining at one time was a prominent industry of 

 western North Carolina; and while I have no definite data as 

 to when copper mines were first operated in western ]N"orth Car- 

 olina, we do know that copper properties were worked before 

 the Civil War, principally in Ashe and Alleghany counties. The 

 most noted mine was the Ore Knob, which is in the southeast 

 corner of Ashe County near the top of the Blue Ridge and about 

 two miles from JSTew River. This mine was first opened some- 

 time before the War, but it was not until some years after the 

 war that it was developed to any great extent. The ore deposit 

 was worked to a depth of 400 feet by means of numerous shafts 

 and drifts. The mine was equipped with a smelter for j)roduc- 

 ing a high grade of copper. The amount of copper produced and 

 shipped from January, 1879, to April, 1880, which was the time 

 the mine was fully operated, was something over 1,640 tons. 

 The cost to produce and market this copper was $.1039 a pound. 

 The mine has not been worked since about 1882. Other copper 

 properties that were worked were the Copper Knob or Gap 

 Creek mine in the southeast part of Ashe County; the Peach 

 Bottom mine on Elk Creek, Alleghany County; the Cullowhee 

 mine on Cullowhee Mountain, and Savannah mine on Savannah 

 Creek, Jackson County. 



Another mineral for which western jSTorth Carolina is noted 

 is corundum. In 1870, Mr. Hiram Crisp found the first corun- 

 dum that attracted attention to the present mining region of 

 iSTorth Carolina, at what is now the Corundum Hill mine. A 

 specimen w^as sent to Prof. Kerr, then State Geologist, for 

 identification, and considerable interest was aroused when it 

 was discovered that it was corundum. In the same year, Mr. 

 J. H. Adams found corundum in a similar occurrence at Pel- 

 ham, Massachusetts. 



In 1870-71, much activity was displayed in the search for 

 corundum in the peridotite regions of the southwestern coun- 

 ties of ISTorth Carolina, and new localities were soon brought to 



