The Sterling Hill Mine: a piece of the past

In a shallow Precambrian sea from zinc-bearing hydrothermal vents, a zinc carbonate oozed from the depths of the earth to morph into a mineral rich family known as the "ites." That is willemite, franklinite and zincite. Now if you were a seventh grade kid and had trouble remembering this stuff for a science test, think of it as a family of Ites, husband Franklin, his wife Wille and their first son Zinc.

The assemblage of these minerals in a very old seabed in northern New Jersey is quite unique, as no other place on earth contains as many minerals. The main reason for this occurrence rests on two factors over a very long period of time- about 1.2 billion years: temperatures as high as 760 degrees Centigrade and pressure equivalent to 5000 atmospheres. At this point it doesn’t matter if you convert the temperature to the all familiar Fahrenheit, because it is adequate to say it was hot as hell. And as for the pressure, let’s say it was more than what the contestants bear on Dancing with the Stars when the vote announcement is interrupted for a commercial break.

What we get is the richest mineral deposits in the world. There are over 4600 minerals in the world and more than 360 are found in the south Wallkill Valley of Northern New Jersey near Franklin (oooh, name sound familiar?) and Ogdensburg. This alone could put the area on the map of any serious rock hound, but consider that 32 of the minerals found here are found no other place in the world, a bunch more are very rare and 89 of the minerals are fluorescent. It is a world-renown bonanza for mineral collectors.

Okay, that is about all the geological history I can muster. In the days of yore, many of these minerals were carried out in the pockets of miners and when the rock hounds showed up on Friday afternoon the miners sold their pocket of rocks for a six pack of beer. And the rock hounds walked off with minerals that today carry “Big Buck” price tags. (In rock hound lingo big buck means a thousand.)

My grandfather was a miner and if he carried rocks out of the Sterling Hill Mine in his pockets or lunch pail, I don’t know.

Bonafacio immigrated to the United States of America for the opportunity to work in the mines of Colorado. He got diverted to New Jersey.

In Mexico a miner worked all day in the mines, hauling dirt, debris and hopefully ore to the surface in a wheelbarrow. If he came to the surface with a load but, had no ore his labor below in the dark, damp and dangerous tunnels was not compensated.

He came alone, leaving my grandmother and my infant father in Mexico. They would later travel by train to live in the company town of Ogdensburg in a small square house on the street known as Mexico or Bridge Street.

Mining had been going on in this area since the 1700’s, but the New Jersey Zinc Mine took over the operations in 1852 and continuously blasted more than 33 miles of tunnel beneath the surface until 1986 when a dispute between the town and the mine over taxes led to the company’s decision to abandon the mine, all its equipment and assets, and shut the place down leaving an estimated 600,000 tons of ore behind. The short-sightedness of the town caused property taxes to rocket and ended a long proud tradition of mining which played a key role in the defense of America during WWII.

Fortunately, some local visionaries realized the significance and value in rescuing the old mine from demolition and subsequent development. They bought it and today the Sterling Hill Mine Museum preserves the story and the history of the mine. The tunnels are flooded so the shafts, the equipment, the ghosts and the legends are entombed in a watery grave. The places my grandfather once toiled are hidden forever.

I had an opportunity to enter the adit, the mine’s entrance. It is open to the public for tours as it remains above the water. I felt some special connection to my past when I entered the mine, and visited the change room where the miners showered and hung their dirty work clothes in baskets at the end of their shifts. I felt proud to be where my grandfather once worked, but shivered at the thought of his labor in the place that produced 22 million tons of zinc. I have no doubt he would be proud of the fact that the mine is now a museum.

Sources of Information: Mining for America: The Franklin-Sterling Hill, NJ Zinc Mines by William Truran and A Mile Deep and Black as Pitch: An Oral History of the Franklin and Sterling Hill Mines by Carrie Papa.

Visit the Sterling Hill Mine Website


Twin Tunnels:

Also known as the Backward Tunnel built in 1871 over the Wallkill. Supposedly it was built backwards because the water side is larger than the road side. I loved this tunnel as a kid. We'd close our eyes when dad drove his car through and we would try to guess by the sound when we came out the other side.