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Cranberry Iron Mine [1]

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Cranberry Iron Mine

by Jean H. Seaman, 2006

The Cranberry Iron Mine is located on an immense subterranean stretch of titaniferous magnetite (titanium, iron oxide) centered around Cranberry in Avery County [2]. Said to have been used by Indians [3] before their contact with whites, it came to be worked mainly from surface ore by 1829 and was opened to systematic production around 1880. In 1882 a railroad [4] facilitated movement of the ore to the furnace. The ore, low in silica and phosphorus, was characterized as the largest deposit of Bessemer ore in the South. By 1974 it was the only active iron [5]mine left in North Carolina.Employees stand in front of the furnace of the Cranberry Iron Mine, ca. 1895. North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.

Reference:

W. F. Wilson and others, North Carolina Geology and Mineral Resources: A Foundation for Progress, North Carolina Geological Survey Educational Series no. 4 (1976).

Additional Resources:

"Cranberry iron mine: iron for the Confederacy." Civil War Trails, Inc. 2011. http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p15012coll8,10772 [6]

State Board of Agriculture. "Cranberry Iron Mine." North Carolina and its resources. Winston [N.C.]: M. I. & J. C. Stewart. 1896. p.96. http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,641585 [7]

Image Credits:

Employees stand in front of the furnace of the Cranberry Iron Mine, ca. 1895. North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.

Subjects: 
Antebellum (1820-1861) [8]
Civil War (1861-1865) [9]
Reconstruction (1865-1876) [10]
Gilded Age (1876-1900) [11]
N.C. Industrial Revolution (1900-1929) [12]
World War I (1914-1918) [13]
Great Depression (1929-1941) [14]
World War II (1941-1945) [15]
Post War 20th Century (1946-2000) [16]
Businesses [17]
Mines and mineral resources [18]
UNC Press [19]
Authors: 
Seaman, Jean H. [20]
Origin - location: 
Avery County [21]
From: 
Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press. [22]

1 January 2006 | Seaman, Jean H.

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Source URL: http://ncpedia.org/cranberry-iron-mine

Links:
[1] http://ncpedia.org/cranberry-iron-mine
[2] http://ncpedia.org/geography/avery
[3] http://ncpedia.org/american-indians/introduction
[4] http://ncpedia.org/railroads
[5] http://ncpedia.org/iron-and-steel-industry
[6] http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p15012coll8,10772
[7] http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,641585
[8] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/antebellum-1820-1
[9] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/civil-war
[10] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/reconstruction
[11] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/gilded-age-1876-1
[12] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/nc-industrial-rev
[13] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/world-war-i
[14] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/great-depression-
[15] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/world-war-ii
[16] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/post-war-20th-cen
[17] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/businesses
[18] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/mines-and-mineral
[19] http://ncpedia.org/category/subjects/unc-press
[20] http://ncpedia.org/category/authors/seaman-jean-h
[21] http://ncpedia.org/category/origin-location/mountai-16
[22] http://ncpedia.org/category/entry-source/encyclopedia-