Third Mine Visit

On Saturday I explored the McCollum mine, part of the Croton Magnetic Iron-ore Mines (Theall & McCollum), both mines were originally named for the farms they were discovered on and were worked from about 1851 to the turn of the century.  The McCollum Mine is a large open pit mine (filled with water) with an adit on the north side.  The adit is completely hidden from view behind brush and trees but is easily accessible if you know where it is.  There is a gate at the entrance with several large holes, not a very effective deterrent. 

Although I knew this adit existed at one point in time (swimming hole as a child) I had assumed that when the homes were built around the Pit (lake) the adit was filled in.  After a short conversation with the home owner (the house is above the adit) she verified that access to the adit was very possible.  I secured permission to take a few images and off I went.  The opening is quite large, you can walk in several feet until you reach water of at least two feet in depth.  It appears that the cut goes back at least 100 feet, probably more, and it is very cavernous with a high rounded ceiling.  I am unsure as to how deep the water is further back as I just looked in, took a few shots and was out.  

This adit may have connected with the Theall mine on the other side of the hill.  It is my understanding that a connection did exist but was lost in a cave-in.   The home owner did mention that there was a connection to the adit in the back of their property but alas (and understandably) they are trying to fill it in.  

I also asked the home owner if she was aware of the history of mine.  She did not know but advised I speak with the granddaughter of the former owner who lived a short distance away.   The granddaughter did not know of the early history of the mine, was aware of a girl-scout camp that once used the lake and advised that I visit the Southeast Museum for additional information.  She was also genuinely puzzled as to why I would be interested.  I'm not sure that my explanation of interest in local history satisfied her curiosity but off I went to the museum. 

The Southeast Museum is very interesting, a large open room with several exhibits on the rich history of this area, one exhibit on mining.  The mining exhibit is mostly on the Tilly Foster Mine the most famous and largest mine in the area.  I will have more on the Tilly Foster Mine in a later post.  I asked the attendant for information on the Croton Magnetic Mines but she was not aware of this Mine and advised that I call on Monday or Tuesday when the curator would be in.  At that point I left, off to look for other stuff.  Thinking back I should have stayed for awhile to further investigate their other interesting exhibits, I will stop back.

I turned south and did briefly explore for information - evidence on the the Clover Hill Mine in Somers but for now have run into a dead end.  I also attempted to locate the Brewster mines (not too seriously) by coordinates from mindat.org but was not successful there either.  Then a short trip into the area of the Tilly Foster mine just for fun but it is heavily posted, more to come on that.  I do have images to post on the McCollum Mine, as soon as I get my card reader working again I will add them to the BLOG.