Lost Goldmine Of The Wissahickon / Philadelphia ?

[jeff of pa]

Almost nothing about the caves is known for certain. They remain shrouded in legend, purported to be the hiding place of robbers, Indians, and patriots. What we do know is that the caves are man-made, excavated with hand-powered rock drills and black powder by the Roxborough Mining Company in 1763-1764, which means they are among the oldest mines in North America. The company, whose goal was to uncover “ores and minerals,” consisted of just seven men, several of them were German immigrants from Germantown, apparently under the leadership of Barnard Gratz. Today the rock contains nothing of value, so it is puzzling why they would have dug there at all.

Lost Goldmine Of The Wissahickon | Hidden City Philadelphia

 

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[PADirtfisher]

Wissahickon schist (mica) is rich with almandine garnets. They weather out of the mica and settle in the creeks. Garnet hunting along the Wissahickon Creek and its tributaries has been a popular past-time for centuries. Many buildings throughout the Philadelphia area were built with this soft but flashy stone and quite a few show small garnets as well.