Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



141 



PLYMOUTH. 



PLYMOUTH 



stream in this township is Black river, 

 which is formed here, and runs southeas- 

 terly into Ludlow. On this stream are 

 several good mill seats and a number of 

 natural ponds, which abound in fish. Two 

 considerable branches of Quecheo river 

 also rise in this township. A large share 

 of the rocks are primitive limestone, which 

 makes the best of lime. Not less than 

 2,000 hogsheads are annually manufac- 

 tured and transported to different parts of 

 the country. Some of the limestone 

 makes excellent marl)le, and in 1&^34 a 

 factory, where 150 saws can be put in op- 

 eration, was erected on Black river, for 

 its manufacture. Some of the marble is 

 white and some beautifully variejrated. 

 The surface of the township is consider- 

 ably broken. Two mountains extend 

 through it parallel to the river, and at no 

 great distance from it. That on the north- 

 eastern side is very abrupt, and is known 

 by the name of Mount Tom. Near the 

 meeting house is an extensive bed of ste- 

 atite, or soapstone. At the foot of the 

 mountain on the southwestern side of the 

 river, and about 80 rods from it, are situ- 

 ted the Plymouth caverns. (Sec Part \st, 

 jia<rc S.) This cavern was discovered 

 about the 1st of July, 1818. The autiior 

 of this work visited it about tlie lUth of 

 the same month, and explored the sever- 

 al apartments, an account of whicli was 

 published soon after in the Vermont Jour- 

 nal. At this time numerous stalactites 

 were suspended from thereof and sides of 

 the cavern, the greater part of whicli 

 were rudely beaten ofl" and carried away 

 by the numerous visitants (amounting to 

 several thousands) with which the cav- 

 ern was thronged during that summer. 

 The rocks are limestone, and the cavern 

 was probably formed by the removal of 

 the earth from among the rocks by water. 

 For the following verj^ full and inter- 

 esting account of Tj'son Furnace, in this 

 town, and of the minerals in the vicinity, 

 I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. R. 

 H. Washburn, of Ludlow. 



Tyson Furnace, so named from the pro- 

 prietor, is situated in tiie soutiiern part of 

 Plymouth, within a few rods of the boun- 

 dary line between that town and Ludlow. 

 It owes its existence to Mr. Isaac Tyson, 

 Jr., of Baltimore, who has probably done 

 more than any other individual to devel- 

 op the interna] resources of tlie st.ite, 

 having previously been connected with 

 the extensive copperas works at Strafford. 

 Although the existence of a large quanti- 

 ty of iron ore in the vicinity had been in- 

 ferred for many years previous, from the 

 frequent discovery of specimens lying 

 loose upon the surface of the earth, noth- 



ing particular had been done to ascertain 

 the_fact, until 1835, when Mr. Tyson, 

 crossing the mountain near the head of 

 Black River — which takes its rise between 

 a high elevation on the east, called ' Mount 

 Tom,' and the range of mountains of the 

 west — discovered here several pieces of 

 ore, which proved to be the micaceous 

 and magnetic oxydes of iron. The ap- 

 pearance of these led him to institute a 

 further examination, and accordingly the 

 ensuing spring ho despatched Mr. Joseph 

 Martin, his former agent at Strafford, and 

 on whom he relied as an experienced mi- 

 ner, to make a thorough searcJi in the vi- 

 cinity. This resulted, in a short time, in 

 the discovery of the bed of brown hema- 

 tite which has since been opened, lyino- 

 about 6 miles south of the place where 

 the ore was first discovered. Large mass- 

 es of tliis ore had been previousTy found 

 about the place, and quantities of it had 

 been removed to the nearest iron works 

 in order to be wrought. Some years pre- 

 vious the company at Pittsford had sent a 

 Mr. Buelto make experiments upon the 

 same, all of which had proved successful. 

 In 1837 Mr. Tyson commenced the erec- 

 tion of his works, which were put in ope- 

 ration the same year ; they consist of a 

 very large blast furnace, besides a small 

 one for convenience. The specimens first 

 discovered by Mr. Tyson near the head 

 of Black River, were part of a rich vein 

 of rock ore. An excavation was immedi- 

 ately commenced here, and the ore, when 

 smelted, is said to produce the best of 

 wrought iron. A combination of the two 

 kinds, however, is generall}' used in the 

 castings. Two other excavations were 

 also made, one about 5 miles north of the 

 furnace, and the other 2 miles south, in 

 the town of Ludlow. Anotjier location 

 of ore, apparently of a superior quality to 

 the otliers, has been discovered about a 

 mile and a half east of the furnace, called 

 sparry or spatiiic, and sometimes steel ore, 

 from the fact that steel may be procured 

 from it without the subsequent process ; 

 from the beautiful rhomboidal surfaces, 

 w/iicli it presents, it appears to be a crys- 

 talized carbonate. The bed of brown he- 

 matite above mentioned, is situated about 

 one fourth of a mile west of the furnace, 

 and is nearly parallel with the side of the 

 mountain, forming an angle witji a per- 

 pendicular of 65°. A shaft was sunk to 

 the depth of 70 feet, but it becoming ne- 

 cessary to drain the mine, a drift was dug, 

 extending horizontally about 80 rods. 

 The excavation in tjje ore bed has already 

 proceeded over 400 feet. Another shaft 

 has recently been sunk a few rods west 

 of the first ; the ore was reached at a deptJi 



