[Rockhounds] Bog Iron in the Northeast

[gary brown]

Larry:

I think the iron for the chain was from New York:
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Iron_Works).

Lots of bog iron in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.  No collecting here
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batsto_Village,_New_Jersey), but I bet you
could fine some bog ore in the surrounding state forest area.  When I was a
kid I used to dig the stuff up in Middletown (40.388022, -74.117495).  You
could probably still find some where the creek goes under the road.

GcB

-----Original Message-----
From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> On Behalf Of
larryrush at att.net
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2018 12:37 PM
To: 'Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors'
<rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>
Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Bog Iron in the Northeast

Ron: Connecticut was once a major producer of bog iron, early in the
settlements. There is a story (I have not verified this) that bog iron from
the Salisbury District was used to create a chain to span the Hudson River
during the Revolutionary War.
Many towns in CT contributed to bog iron production in the early years, from
the shoreline up to Mass. The ones around Litchfield County were noted to
have left heaps of bog ore raked out of swampy areas when the smelters took
over for iron making.
I have not personally looked for any of these old heaps, but they exist, if
anecdotally, in the older towns there. It might be worth checking with the
local library historians in some of those NW  CT or So. Mass. towns, and
poking around where the producing sites were. Maybe by digging in anomalous
piles, you might uncover some, quietly rusting away over the decades.

Larry Rush
Guilford, CT