A Peculiar Design
It toiled on the surface for over three decades, pillaging the underground for precious metals one loaded skip at a time. It worked an expansive and deep foray into the earth, judging by the two massive rock piles that now flanked it. One day it simply stopped. Now the meek and humble ruins that remain bear little resemblance to the once proud buildings that once served here. If it weren’t for the rock piles, no one would probably know it was here.
It was large and red, built from iron stained rocks at Jacobsville. Hiding in the foliage and shadows it masked its true dimensions until you stepped closer. It didn’t look like any ruins we have seen before at a mine site. More like a large sandstone pedestal, it was a good twelve feet in height. Scattered along its length were a series of metal bolts that seemed to pass completely through its substantial girth. Walking around its perimeter we barely noticed a short concrete wall flanking the pedestals long edges – mostly buried in dirt and debris. We knew that this had to be a rock house, but it looked nothing like any we have seen.
That was because it was unique – possibly unique to this mine. In most rock houses the rock bin sat atop a rail line, such as we have documented at Gratiot. Some, like Kingston, sit atop two rail lines running in parallel. The Mohawk had a similar idea, except the two rail lines didn’t run under the rock bin, but on both sides of it. The sandstone pedestal we found once supported the rock bin, and the rail cars ran between it and the two short walls on either side of it.
Moving back from the rock house we stumbled across an upturned footing – ripped up out of the ground by some force. Soon we found another one, but this one still firmly in the ground. These might be supports for cable stands, or for the skip road. Following them we quickly came across a rectangle wall of concrete, capped on its corners by short buttresses. Definitely not the hoist building – this must be the collar house. (Thanks to my readers for giving me the correct terminology) So we take to the other side of the rock house in search of the hoist building.
Tomorrow: Rock House Family Album…