{{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox mine | name = Pahaquarry Copper Mine | image = Pahaquarry Copper Mine Adit 1.jpg | width = | caption = [[Adit]] Number 1 | pushpin_map = USA New Jersey Warren County | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_label = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|41|02|17|N|75|01|39|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | place = [[Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area]] | subdivision_type = State | state/province = [[New Jersey]] | country = United States | owner = [[National Park Service]] (current) | official website = http://www.nps.gov/dewa | acquisition year = | stock_exchange = | stock_code = | products = Copper ore | financial year = | amount = | opening year = 1750s | active years = 1750s, 1847–48, 1861–62, 1901–11 | closing year = 1928 | module = {{Infobox NRHP | name = Pahaquarry Copper Mine Ruins | partof = [[Old Mine Road Historic District]] | nrhp_type = cp | nocat = yes | designated_nrhp_type = December 3, 1980 | partof_refnum = 80000410<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a|refnum=80000410|name=Old Mine Road Historic District}}</ref> }} }}
The '''Pahaquarry Copper Mine''' is an abandoned [[copper mine]] located on the west side of [[Kittatinny Mountain]] presently in [[Hardwick Township, New Jersey|Hardwick Township]]<ref>The mine was located in the now-defunct [[Pahaquarry Township, New Jersey|Pahaquarry Township]] until 1997 when Pahaquarry merged with neighboring Hardwick Township.</ref> in [[Warren County, New Jersey|Warren County]], [[New Jersey]] in the United States. Active mining was attempted for brief periods during the mid-eighteenth, mid-nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries but was never successful despite developments in mining technology and improving mineral extraction methods. Such ventures were not profitable as the ore extracted proved to be of too low a concentration of [[copper]]. This site incorporates the mining ruins, hiking trails, and nearby waterfalls, and is located within the [[Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area]] and administered by the [[National Park Service]]. It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1980 as a contributing property to the [[Old Mine Road Historic District]].<ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=80000410}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Old Mine Road Historic District / Old Mine Road |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|first1=Wayne K. |last1=Bodle |first2=Clifford |last2=Tobias |date=July 1980 }} With {{NRHP url|id=80000410|photos=y|title=accompanying 29 photos from 1977}}</ref>
Local tradition and several early historians recount legends of seventeenth-century Dutch miners searching for copper in the [[Minisink]] region and commencing mining operations at this location before 1650. In order to bring this ore to market, the miners are alleged to have built a {{convert|104|mi|km}} road, the [[Old Mine Road]] linking these mines near the [[Delaware Water Gap]] with [[Kingston, New York]].<ref>Decker, Amelia Stickney. ''That Ancient Trail: The Old Mine Road, The First Road of any Length built in America''. (Trenton, New Jersey: Petty Printing Company, 1942); Hine, Charles Gilbert. ''The Old Mine Road'' (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1908, 1963).</ref> This tradition has been refuted by recent research, and it is thought the road has no connection with the mines but was built as Dutch families from New York settled the Minisink in the Eighteenth Century.<ref name=Kraft153>{{Harvnb|Kraft|1996|pp=153–157}}</ref> The earliest evidence of mining at Pahaquarry is 1740 with a brief venture funded by [[John Reading (New Jersey governor)|John Reading, Jr]].<ref name=Kraft97>{{Harvnb|Kraft|1996|pp=97–100}}</ref> Later attempts in the middle of the nineteenth century and a renewed effort during the early years of the twentieth century were brief and likewise unsuccessful.
==History==
===Legends about Dutch miners=== There are several legends associated with this mine that have been discredited by historians and archaeologists, notably [[Herbert C. Kraft]].<ref name=Muller8>{{Harvnb|Müller|2009|p=8}}</ref> One legend claims that the [[Lenape]] worked the mine even before European settlers arrived. However, archeological and scientific testing show that the copper artifacts from the area originated from major [[native copper]] mines in [[Isle Royale]] and the [[Keweenaw Peninsula]] Michigan.<ref name=Kraft22>{{Harvnb|Kraft|1996|pp=22–24}}</ref>
Another legend claims that early [[Netherlands|Dutch]] settlers of [[New Netherland]] in the 1650s discovered and worked the mine in Lenape territory. This then leads to the legend that the Dutch built the [[Old Mine Road]] stretching {{convert|104|mi}} to [[Esopus, New York]] to transport the ore. While the nearby roadside [[historical marker]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=16812|title=Old Mine Road}}</ref> repeats these claims, no hard evidence has been found to support either one.<ref name=Kraft150>{{Harvnb|Kraft|1996|pp=150–157}}</ref> Many references to this mining area continue to repeat these old legends as fact.
===Mining ventures 1750-1910=== [[Image:Pahaquarry Copper Mine Adit 2.jpg|thumb|right|Adit Number 2]] The Pahaquarry mine site was operated for three brief periods of mining activity. The earliest documented reports are from the 1750s, when John Reading, Jr. and his partners purchased land along the Mine Brook in early [[Walpack Township, New Jersey|Walpack Township]] along the [[Delaware River]] in northwestern New Jersey.<ref>Walpack, founded before 1731 stretched from the Delaware Water Gap to New Jersey's northern border near Port Jervis, New York. It was split in 1824 to create Pahaquarry Township when Sussex County ceded territory to create Warren County. See Snyder, John Parr. ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968'' New Jersey Geological Survey Bulletin 67. (Trenton, New Jersey: Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969).</ref> Reading, a prominent surveyor and land investor and member of the Provincial Council, served as the [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey colony's]] [[List of colonial governors of New Jersey|acting governor]] in 1747, and from 1757–1758. By 1760, the venture was a failure and mining activity ceased.<ref>{{Harvnb|Burns Chavez|1995|pp=31–43}}</ref>
The next attempt began with the formation of the Alleghany Mining Company in 1847 by a group of men from [[Flemington, New Jersey]]. New mining activity began, but quickly ended in 1848, due to the poor quality of the ore. New management of the company restarted operations in 1861, but again mining quickly stopped the next year.<ref name=BurnsChavez47>{{Harvnb|Burns Chavez|1995|pp=47–54}}</ref>
In 1867, Aaron Keyser bought the property for bark and timber. This soon ended when the land was transferred back to the Alleghany Mining Company in the 1890s.<ref name=BurnsChavez54>{{Harvnb|Burns Chavez|1995|p=54}}</ref>
[[Image:Pahaquarry Copper Mine Open Quarry.jpg|thumb|left|Open quarry, excavation started 1907.<ref name=BurnsChavez369>{{Harvnb|Burns Chavez|1995|p=369}}</ref>]] The last mining attempt began in 1901 when the Montgomery Gold Leaf Mining Company, founded by the brothers, Henry and Oliver Deshler of [[Belvidere, New Jersey]], purchased the assets of the Alleghany Mining Company. After unsuccessful operations, the company reorganized as the Pahaquarry Copper Company in 1904. During the next years, a large ore processing mill, adjoining buildings and infrastructure were constructed at the area. The mill underwent many changes as the technology developed by [[Nathaniel S. Keith]] was new and untested. New ore was not dug until 1911, and stopped after three months, producing perhaps only three ingots of refined copper.<ref name=BurnsChavez55>{{Harvnb|Burns Chavez|1995|pp=55–87}}</ref> The last of the mining equipment was removed in 1928, ending copper mining in the area.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jersey Copper Mine, 300 Years Old, Junked |work=The New York Times |date=May 5, 1928 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B14F63D58127A93C7A9178ED85F4C8285F9 |accessdate=2010-08-31}}</ref>
From 1925 to 1972, the area was a camp for the George Washington Council (now merged and part of Central New Jersey Council) of the [[Boy Scouts of America]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnjc-bsa.org/camps/pahaquarra/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725183340/http://www.cnjc-bsa.org/camps/pahaquarra/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 25, 2011|title=Camp Pahaquarra History}}</ref> The land was then purchased by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in preparation for the building of the [[Tocks Island Dam Controversy|controversial Tocks Island Dam project]].<ref name=BurnsChavez103>{{Harvnb|Burns Chavez|1995|p=103}}</ref>
== Geology == The copper ore deposit found here is the grayish mineral [[chalcocite]] (copper sulfide) embedded in a hard gray [[sandstone]] band of the [[Bloomsburg Formation|Bloomsburg Red Beds]].<ref name=Muller8/> The similar color and low ore yield make visual identification difficult. Secondary minerals that can be seen include green [[malachite]] and blue-green [[chrysocolla]].<ref name=Muller8/> Between 1903 and 1906, Dr. Keith reported an average yield of 3.25% copper using 100 samples. In 1943, the [[United States Geological Survey]] reported yields of 0.11% to 0.38% copper and recommended that no more work be done at Pahaquarry.<ref name=Cornwall1>{{Harvnb|Cornwall|1943|pp=1–4}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area]] *[[Old Mine Road]] *[[Tocks Island Dam Controversy]] *[[Sussex County, New Jersey]] *[[Warren County, New Jersey]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
== Bibliography == *{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dewa/clr1.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301194946/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dewa/clr1.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2010|title=Pahaquarry Copper Mine, Final Cultural Landscape Report, Vol. 1|first1=Steve R. |last1=Burns Chavez|first2=A. Berle |last2=Clemensen |date=August 1995|publisher=U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service|ref=CITEREFBurns_Chavez1995}} *{{cite book|first=H. R.|last=Cornwall|title=Pahaquarry Copper Mine|publisher=United States Department of the Interior, Geological Survey|date=June 1943}} *{{cite book|last=Kraft|first=Herbert C.|authorlink=Herbert C. Kraft|title=The Dutch, the Indians and the Quest for Copper: Pahaquarry and the Old Mine Road|url=https://archive.org/details/dutchindiansques0000kraf|url-access=registration|location=West Orange, New Jersey|publisher=Seton Hall University Museum|year=1996|isbn=978-0-935137-02-6}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.njgeology.org/enviroed/newsletter/v5n2.pdf|title= Old Dutch Mine|first=F. L.| last=Müller|work=Unearthing New Jersey Vol. 5, No. 2|date=Summer 2009|publisher=New Jersey Geological Survey}}
== Further reading == {{refbegin}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dewa/clr2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301152653/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dewa/clr2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 1, 2010 |title= Pahaquarry Copper Mine, Final Cultural Landscape Report, Vol. 2 |first1=Steve R. |last1=Burns Chavez|first2=A. Berle |last2=Clemensen |date=August 1995 |publisher=U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/dewa/historyculture/upload/cmsstgCOPER.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107003202/http://www.nps.gov/dewa/historyculture/upload/cmsstgCOPER.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |title= The Dutch Mines: Fact or Myth? |first=Susan | last=Kopczynski|work= Spanning the Gap Vol. 10, No. 2 | date=Summer 1988 <!-- Revised 2004--> |publisher=U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service}} * {{Cite book|last=Monteverde|first=Donald H.|chapter=Geology of the Pahaquarry Copper Mine|title= Geology of the Delaware Water Gap Area, Field Guide and Proceedings, 19th Annual Meeting|pages=75–82|publisher=Geological Association of New Jersey|date=October 11–12, 2002}} * {{cite book|last1=Scherer|first1=Glenn|last2=DeCoste|first2=Paul E.|title=Hiking New Jersey: A Guide to 50 of the Garden State's Greatest Hiking|chapter=The Pahaquarry Copper Mines|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|date=June 2009|pages=62–68|isbn=978-0-7627-1119-2}} * {{cite book|url=http://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin57.pdf|chapter=Pahaquarry Mine|title=Copper Mines and Mining in New Jersey|first=Herbert|last=Woodward|publisher=State of New Jersey Department of Conservation and Development|location=Trenton, New Jersey|year=1944|pages=124–137}} * {{Cite book|last1=Zdepski|first1=Mark|first2=Don|last2=Pace|chapter=Pahaquarry Copper Mine: History Relating to Existing Surface Features|title= Geology of the Delaware Water Gap Area, Field Guide and Proceedings, 19th Annual Meeting|pages=68–74|publisher=Geological Association of New Jersey|date=October 11–12, 2002}} {{refend}}
== External links == {{commons category}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100823235947/http://www.nps.gov/akr/dewa/ National Park Service: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area] * [http://www.abandonedmines.net/pahaquarry.htm Abandoned Mines: Pahaquarry Copper Mine] * [http://www.nynjtc.org/hike/coppermines-trail-kittatinny-ridge New York New Jersey Trail Conference: Coppermines Trail] * [https://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/parks/loc33.htm USGS: Coppermines Trail]
{{Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area}} {{authority control}}
[[Category:Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area]] [[Category:Hardwick Township, New Jersey]] [[Category:Pre-statehood history of New Jersey]] [[Category:Mines in New Jersey]] [[Category:Geography of Warren County, New Jersey]] [[Category:Underground mines in the United States]] [[Category:Copper mines in the United States]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Warren County, New Jersey]] [[Category:Historic district contributing properties in New Jersey]]