MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK lOl 



References 



Luther, D. D. Economic Geology of Onondaga County. N. Y. State Mus. 



49th Ann. Rep't, v. 2, 1898 

 Merrill, F. J. H. Salt and Gypsum Industries of New York. N. Y. State Mus. 



Bui. II, 1893 

 Kewland, D. H. & Leighton, H. Gypsum Deposits of New York. N. Y. State 



Mus. Bui. 143, 1910 

 Parsons, A. L. Notes on the Gypsum Industry of New York. N, Y. State Geol. 

 2;^d Ann. Rep't, 1904 



IRON ORE 



Iron ores are first in the list of metallic minerals that are mined 

 within the State, outranking all others in extent of distribution 

 and industrial importance. They are distributed among several 

 districts, each having more or less independent geologic features 

 and characteristic ore types. The different kinds of ores that have 

 been the object of mining operations include magnetite, magnetite- 

 ilmenite mixtures, massive hematite, fossil and oolitic hematite, 

 limonite, siderite and bog ores. 



The beginnings of iron mining and manufacturing in New York 

 trace back to the colonial period and took place in the southeastern 

 section. The earliest record of iron making that seems to be well 

 authenticated by contemporary evidence refers to an enterprise 

 on Ancram creek, Columbia county, which from its location renders 

 fairly certain that the local limonite ores were employed. In 1750 

 a limonite deposit near Millerton, Dutchess county, a part of the 

 Salisbury district, was opened. The same year saw the start of 

 mining in the Highlands magnetite district, with the development 

 of the famous Sterling mines in southern Orange county, which 

 have been under practically continuous operation, except for short 

 intervals of inactivity, down to the present time. A furnace was 

 erected on the Sterling property in 1751 and the iron made there 

 during the Revolution played an important part in supplying the 

 needs of the patriot army. The Forest of Dean mine, back of West 

 Point, in the Highlands was opened about 1756. 



The Adirondack magnetites began to be worked about 1800 as 

 small forges were in operation in the Champlain valley in 1801.^ 

 The occurrence of ore in that region was known many years before 

 that time, as it is indicated on the early maps during the French 

 occupation of the Champlain valley. 



The Clinton formation with its fossil and oolitic hematites came 



1 Most of the information about the early history of iron mining is from Swank, 

 " History of the Manufacture of Iron in All Ages," Philadelphia, 1888. 



