My cycling destination yesterday: the lead mines at Austinville, Virginia. What's special about this locale is the fact that it holds a history that no other spot in America can boast of - it is the site of the longest continuing mining operation in American history.
In the 1750's a retired British colonel (remember - Virginia was still part of the British empire then) began mining lead here. Successive owners did the same for the next 225 years. In addition to lead, the area had considerable zinc deposits as well.
The lead mines of Austinville were of critical importance to the nation for well over a hundred years. In the Revolutionary War King George's military leadership felt that it was of such importance that in 1780 a loyalist force was sent there to capture it. However a militia unit was able to prevent the capture.
Then in the Civil War the lead mines, being critical to the South, were twice assailed by Union forces, the first time failing to reach their goal, but the second time, in 1864, managing to temporarily wreck machinery there. It is thought that in the last months of the war the Confederacy's entire source for bullets was right here in Austinville.
Then in the Civil War the lead mines, being critical to the South, were twice assailed by Union forces, the first time failing to reach their goal, but the second time, in 1864, managing to temporarily wreck machinery there. It is thought that in the last months of the war the Confederacy's entire source for bullets was right here in Austinville.
The Environmental Protection Agency came into the story and decided, in 1981, that the lead mines were too dangerous to be allowed to continue. The mines were sealed that year, the pumps were shut off, and a mile and a half of shafts were flooded, never to be reclaimed.
A company still operates on the site today (that's why I couldn't get close-up photos) but the only mining that is done is surface limestone mining. Once a massive operation, it is now essentially a strip mine pit.
