|
Star Lake, New York, a village in the southern St. Lawrence County, is geographically isolated at 60 miles from the nearest city.〔Russell Hall. Gem of the Adirondacks: Star Lake, Benson Mines & the Global Economy (Florida: Lighthall Books, 2005), 10.〕 In the 1950s, the town became home to the largest open pit iron-ore mine in the world.〔Ryan Adams. “Iron Ore Recovery Potential from Benson Mine Tailings: Using Community Problems to Serve as a Teaching Method,” Presented at 40th Annual Meeting of the United States Geological Survey Northeastern Section (14-16 Mar 2005).〕 The ore body at Benson Mine was discovered in 1810 by engineers conducting a survey for a new highway from Albany to Ogdensburg. The mine is actually located in the Town of Clifton, just east of the CDP limits of Star Lake. ==History== The engineers noticed the spinning of their compass needles due to the large quantities of magnetic ore under their feet.〔Hyde, Adirondack, 176.〕 In 1889, the Magnetic Iron Company began developing the Star Lake ore body,〔David Shampine. “Days of Ore & Steel-Recalling the End of Benson Mines Run and its Harrowing Journeys Times Gone By.” Watertown Daily Times 17 Nov 1999.〕 which sat under some three-thousand acres of land. Production of ore halted in 1893 with a depression in the iron ore industry, but resumed in 1900.〔Hall, Gem of the Adirondacks, 28.〕 In 1910, the Benson Mines Company bought the site from the Magnetic Iron Company〔Shampine, “Days of Ore.”〕 and continued operations on and off until 1918.〔Hall, Gem of the Adirondacks, 28.〕 At the onset of World War II, Benson Mines reopened when Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation leased the site. The U.S Department of Defense built ore processing facilities and the iron-ore was shipped to Pittsburgh for use in the war effort.〔Shampine, “Days of Ore.”〕 The mining operation expanded significantly in the 1950s, and was renamed the New York Ore Division, although control remained in the hands of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation.〔Hyde, Adirondack, 176.〕 At its height, the company employed 840 workers in 1960.〔Hall, Gem of the Adirondacks, 45.〕 With the economic prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s the Company took a leading role in community development. The company published a magazine called Men and Steel, which provided “general information about different parts of the plant… *as well as+…personal interest stories, *and+ weddings births, deaths, anniversaries, and other family news…” In 1952, the magazine highlighted the Company’s financial contributions to town projects, which included construction of the Central School building, water system, housing project, and hospital. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Benson Mines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|