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A Brief History of the Copper Mine at Bare Hills, Maryland

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A Brief History of the Copper Mine at Bare Hills, Maryland HISTORIC MINERAL FEATURE A Brief History of the Copper Mine at Bare Hills, Maryland by Herbert C. Moore farm." Apparently a small shaft had Introduction the suburban section known as Mt. NATshington. That portion of the Hills already been made. In similar fashion to a number of In December, 1844, Petherick trans- other eastern U.S. mineral locations, where the chrome mining operations were carried on is near Falls Road, ferred his interest to Isaac Tyson, Jr. the Bare Hills Copper Mine has been This gentleman attempted to hold obliterated by urban development. while the copper mine is on Smith Avenue. Old Pimlico Road connects Watts to his agreement, but Watts, Herbert-Moare, a historian and natu- Falls Road and Smith Avenue. As Bal- perhaps advised that he-h-id madt an ralist who was active with the Nat- unequal contract, treated it as null. ural History Society of Maryland, vis- timore City increased in size, Bare Hills, quite naturally, became closer. Tyson brought suit for specific per- ited and studied the mine during formance. The case was argued by 1934 and 1935. Moore gathered all In the 1860's the Hills were seven miles from the city. three notable lawyers of the time: available historical information and Reverdy Johnson and J.H.B. Latrobe interviewed the last living miners. His Copper was discovered at Bare Hills in the days when Smith Avenue was for Tyson, and T. Parkin Scott for -efforts were preserved in an article a mere dust road. The earliest refer- Watts. The Court decided that the prepared for the Society and pub- agreement was one-sided. Petherick lished in May 1935. At the time of ence appears to be a Maryland law case dated 1848, deciding a dispute (or his assignee, Tyson) could, under Moore's visit, a water-filled shaft and the agreement, use the mine if it were a number of buildings and building which had its beginning in 1844 and 1845. found productive. If found otherwise -foundations were still accessible. however, he could just lag along, do- Mineral specimens,- both copper- ing nothing, and all the time depriv- bearing and non—copper species were "The fact that the company ing Watts of revenue which he might still collectable. By the time Pearre exchanged stock for provisions at be able to get from somebody else and Heyl visited the site during the the general store who knew better how to work it; or preparation and mapping of their re- indicated that was in a weak by using the property for other pur- port* in 1957 circumstances had financial condition" poses. Therefore, the contract was not changed. The main shaft had been mutual. filled and the dumps were being lev- Subsequently it seems, from an iso- eled for a suburban housing develop- Sometime prior to 1844, copper had been discovered on the farm of lated allusion in Scharf, the great ment. No copper mineralization Maryland historian, that Tyson did could be found in the area. Thomas B. Watts, who desired that the deposits should be explored and dally with the mine. Others also en- The Bare Hills Copper Mine is a deavored to mine the copper there. --classic Maryland location, with spec- worked. (In reality, he was the re- versioner, with his mother possessing However, the operations between imen representation in many institu- 1845 and 1855 were carried on none tional and private collections. The ar- a life interest in the land.) Having lit- tle money, and knowing nothing too successfully, although the shaft ticle is being presented here for the was dug to a depth of 350 feet. The interest and enjoyment of our read- about mining, he entered into an drainage of water, always a great ers. We thank the Natural History So- agreement with Thomas Petherick, a mining engineer of some repute, for question at the Bare Hills Copper ciety of Maryland for permission to Mine, and the hoisting of the ore and republish this story. the exploration of the copper on the farm. In the agreement Watts re- waste were handled by means of a small 4-horse-power steam engine. Copper at Bare Hills ceived one dollar consideration and a promise of a full fifteenth part of all The water was drawn up in buckets' The Bare Hills are now located less through a small irregular shaft which than a mile from Baltimore City, near the minerals after the same had been rendered fit for smelting, clear of struck the vein at the depth of 140 *Heyl, Allen V. and Pearre, Nancy C. -Copper, all expenses. Petherick paid Watts feet. Below that point another small Zinc, Lead, Iron, Cobalt, and Barite Deposits in $30.00 "to make an excavation to the opening was made on the dip of the the Piedmont Upland of Maryland" 1965, MD vein about 180 feet. In 1855, Dr. Geological Survey, Bulletin 28. shaft sunk on the copper ore on the .A.0eary IVIATRIXtlft„ "VOLUME '3 er,r4,711 View of the Bare Hills Copper Mine, drawn and printed in color by Schmidt and Trowe, Baltimore engravers, circa 1870. Location at point where Northern Central Railroad crosses Falls Road. (Photo courtesy of the Maryland Histor- ical Society. William H. Keener acquired a small provements were made, such as a From March, 1864 to March, 1865, interest in the mine, and in 1858, he suitable dressing house for the ore 700 tons were taken from the mine, purchased a controlling interest. Cap- (84 X 45 feet), an office, smith's shop, and the shaft was dug 50 feet deeper tain Edward Powers, his superinten- carpenter's shop, magazine, dwelling to the 650 foot level. During the dent, abandoned the combined use of for the captain, and four blocks of month of May in 1864, 80 tons of ore shaft and slope, widened the slope, miners' houses, each measuring 50 were brought to the surface by 25 _ancLextended it to the_surface. feet, -miners,- and in June, I-864, 40 men In 1860 the Bare Hills Copper Min- In 1864 the mining company had were employed at the mines. There- ing Company was incorporated by an a capital stock of $500,000 in 100,000 after, until 1867, the average was 25 Act of the General Assembly of Mary- shares of $5.00 each. All stock was men, 9 for exploration and 16 to land. Later, in 1864, the company apparently sold at the time or within work the ore. was reorganized with Keener as pres- a short period, for two dividends or A resume of the period 1863 to 1865 ident, and work commenced on a the total capital stock were declared shows: in 1863-432 tons producing greater scale. Up to 1864 the shaft, before 1866. The working capital 2,352 lbs. of copper were mined with which was not vertical but on an in- however, was not absorbed at the a value of $21,558; in 1864,-700 cline of 45 degrees, had been dug to outset as was so often done. Further- tons, valued about $54,300; in 1865 a depth of 590 feet. The new system more, $25,000 was loaned on good about 75 tons a month. In June, 1864, of pumping and hoisting was effected security. Before 1864, Keener had ex- a dividend was declared of 21/2 per- by a steam engine cylinder with two plored the levels and exposed easy ac- cent— $12,500., on the capital stock of boilers, 25 feet long and 31 /2 feet in cess to enough ore, so it was not nec- $500,000., and in December, another diameter. An ore crusher was at- essary to spend a great deal in sinking of 4 percent, or $20,000. tached to the engine with a pair of the shaft. Weed in "Copper Deposits of the rollers 18 inches in diameter and 14 During the first two months of the United States" writes that Dr. inches in length, and three jigger ma- new company's operations, over 175 Lehmann, once chemist at the Balti- chines of the oblong type were used, tons of ore were mined. Only 12 min- more Copper Works, reported yearly for sifting. Other very important im- ers were working at the time. shipments prior to 1864, as varying 95 mine. This reservoir, used for dress- or concentrates. From 1866 to 1887 between 2000-2500 tons of 15-20 the shipments gradually lessened, av- percent ore. Inasmuch as the records ing the ore, flooded the mine and eraging about 50 tons a month of 18 of the Baltimore Copper Works were stopped work for some time. (This - percent "cobbed ore." At that time destroyed by fire and his figures are flood is described vividly in the Amer copper was worth about 15v a pound. mostly from memory they are prob- ican and Commercial Advertiser of ($54.00 per ton). The gross valuation ably not as accurate as the ones given July 24, 1868. Several people were drowned in Baltimore City, while at from 1864 to 1887 was then about by the copper mining company. $1,750,000. for 32,500 tons of 18 per- The records between 1865 and Ellicott City over 30 persons lost their cent material. 1868 seem not to exist. In July of lives.) In 1880, according to the Tenth this latter year, a great cloudburst, The water was pumped out, and Census report, the mine yielded 17 mentioned by Scharf and other Mary- the mines functioned intermittently tons of concentrates, from which land historians as the worst one ever from 1867 to 1887.
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