A Mile Deep and Black as Pitch: An Oral History of the Franklin and Sterling Hill Mines

by Carrie Papa

This book documents the history of two celebrated mines in Sussex County, New Jersey, through the eyes of those who lived it. The two mines, consolidated in 1897 under the New Jersey Zinc Company, were recognised world-wide for their diverse and magnificent mineral deposits and are acknowledged as the birthplace of the US zinc industry. At its peak of operations in Sussex County in the first half of the 20th century, the Zinc Company employed over 2000 hourly workers. The Company developed the towns of Franklin and Ogdensburg for the miners, and one of them, Franklin, became known as the 'model mining town of America'. The book is divided into three The Mines and the Miners; The Model Mining Town of America; and The Legacy and the Future. In the first two parts, the narratives explore the positive and negative aspects of life in the mines and in the company towns. In these sections, the author compares the lives of Zinc Company miners to those of other hard-rock miners in the US. The third part looks at the continuing educational impact of the mines, including the influence on the development of local museums and on the Smithsonian Institution's mine exhibit that opened in 1997.

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2003

Reviews

[Monica]

Definitely a book for those who grew up in Franklin/Ogdensburg area. Reading about all the shafts and how these were unmapped makes you wonder why the town council would now want to built a 500 resident luxury apartment/business complex on top of the center of town.