A Guide to the New Jersey Zinc Company Records, 1933-1957 New Jersey Zinc Company, Records, 1933-1957 2005.7

A Guide to the New Jersey Zinc Company Records, 1933-1957

A Collection in
Special Collections, Kegley Library
Collection Number 2005.7

Special Collections, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College

Special Collections
Kegley Library
Wytheville Community College
Wytheville, Virginia 24382-3308
USA
Phone: (276) 223-4744
Fax: (276) 223-4745
Email: gmattis@wcc.vccs.edu
URL: http://kegleylibrary.wcc.vccs.edu/

Processed by: Cathy Carlson Reynolds

Repository

Special Collections, Kegley Library

Collection Number

2005.7

Title

New Jersey Zinc Company Records 1933-1957

Physical Characteristics

3 map folders.

Language

English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

New Jersey Zinc Company Records, Mss. Collection 2005.7, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Bookworm and Silverfish of Rural Retreat in 2005.

Historical Information

In 1901 and 1902 the New Jersey Zinc Company purchased the holdings of the Bertha Mineral Company in Pulaski County and Austinville in Wythe County, Virginia. The company also maintained works in Missouri, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The following sketch comes from Mary B. Kegley's book, Wythe County, Virginia: a Bicentennial History, p. 341.

In 1901, the New Jersey Zinc Company purchased the Bertha holdings and the following year, the Austinville operation. The New Jersey Zinc Company had consolidated its interests in 1897, acquiring the Passaic Zinc Company with mines at Bertha, Virginia, and works in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Missouri. It also acquired the Bertha Mineral Company and its smelter at Pulaski and the mines at Delton and Austinville. A zinc oxide furnace was constructed at Austinville to recover the zinc from the tailings. It operated until 1911 when the supply was exhausted. At this time, the exact method of extracting the zinc from the abundant hard sulphide ore (sphalerite) was unknown. After several years of experimentation, a new flotation process was developed.

In 1925, a mill capable of treating 1000 tons of ore a day was built at Austinville, and the Van Mater five-compartment shaft was sunk to a depth of 1200 feet. Two additional shafts were sunk; one at Ivanhoe in 1953 to a depth of 1100 feet and one at Flatwoods to a depth of 700 feet. The Ivanhoe and Flatwoods shafts were connected to the Van Mater shaft by a two and one-half mile tunnel, and 1000 tons of ore a day were transported underground by a ten-ton diesel locomotive and eighty cubic foot rotary dump cars at a speed of seven to eight miles per hour. Haulage on the intermediate levels was carried out with seven-ton battery locomotives and Granby type cars. In 1953, the mine employed approximately 300 men, who worked three shifts and produced 2400 tons of zinc per day.

The number of men employed increased to 650, and the company found a market for its by-product, agricultural limestone. Between 1925 and 1953, farmers of Southwest Virginia and adjoining states purchased 6.5 million tons of limestone. During this same time, a new shot shaft replaced the one dating from 1851. When the Van Mater shaft was built, the older shot shaft was closed off and abandoned.

The New Jersey Zinc Company, owned by Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., closed its operation at Austinville December 31, 1981. In 1982, the company conveyed twelve staff houses to Lead Mines Estates, Inc., where some of the former employees now live. In addition, it conveyed sixty-four non-staff houses to Newtown, Inc. These two corporations formed the Austinville Water and Sewer Company to purchase and operate the water system.

The lead mines, from the beginnings of its successful operation in 1763 to the end of the Civil War, saw many disputes, numerous lawsuits, and great hostility among its co-owners. Its most profitable and peaceful ten years was probably the period of consolidation beginning in 1938. Although the mines were threatened during the American Revolution and damaged in the Civil War, lead was mined at the site more or less constantly for more than 100 years. Following the Civil War, the processing of zinc helped continue the mining enterprise for more than another 100 years under the Wythe Lead and Zinc Mine Company, Bertha Mineral Company, and NEw JErsey Zinc Company, bringing the industry from primitive beginnings to a modern network of tunnels, shafts, diesel engines, and more than 600 employees at the time of closing in 1981. These mines were the county's first industry; their economic impact has been significant in every generation since the first Welsh miners successfully mined lead in 1763. Written by Mary B. Kegley.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of three folders of plans for the Austinville and Ivanhoe installations of New Jersey Zinc Company, Bertha Mineral Division dating from 1933 to 1957.

Contents List

Folder 1. Small Plans. 1933-1957.

8 items.

Plan. 29 July 1939.

43.3 x 27.8 cm.

Plan for portable core shed, Bertha Mineral Company. Plan 7GB-594.
Plan. 7 March 1950.

28 x 21.5 cm.

Plan, copper sulfate feeder functional section, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 8GB-2189.
Plan. 7 March 1950.

43 x 27.6 cm.

Plan, copper sulfate feeder concrete box, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 8GB-2188.
Plan. 24 March 1951.

43 x 27.6 cm.

Plan, septic tank in bottom for boarding house and dwelling, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 1GB-706.
Plan. 13 April 1953.

50.2 x 33.2 cm.

Plan, 3 foot Symons crusher wood buffer shim, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 8-GB-2420.
Plan. 22 April 1953.

45.7 x 30.2 cm.

Plan, revised core tray from 1GB-712, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 7GB-2373.
Plan. 5 October 1956.

40.5 x 28 cm.

Plan, temporary cover standard size core tray, Austinville, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 7GB-4014.
Plan. 29 April 1957.

46.3 x 30.5 cm.

Plan, house #201, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 10GB-227.

Folder 2. Plans. 1933-1949.

10 items.

Plan. 13 July 1933.

102 x 68.5 cm.

Plan, Van Mater shaft, head frame steel guides, assembly and details, Bertha Mineral Company. Plan 7GB-488.
Plan. 29 November 1947.

102 x 68.3 cm.

Plan, proposed revisions to carpenter shop, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company, Austinville, Virginia. Plan 1GB-573.
Plan. 26 February 1948.

102 x 67.7 cm.

Plan, standard five room house with bath, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company, Austinville, Virginia. Plan 10GB-197
Plan. 12 April 1948.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, Austinville sewage system trickling filter and rotary distributor, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company, Austinville, Virginia. Plan 1GB-597.
Plan. 26 August 1948.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, main office building, Austinville plant, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 10GB-204.
Plan. 3 September 1948.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, main office building, in section, Austinville plant, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 10GB-206.
Plan. 23 November 1948.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, box for C-8 battery cells 4 ton locomotive, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company. Plan 7GB-1563.
Plan. 9 February 1949.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, bathroom and closet addition to standard four room house, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company, Austinville, Virginia. Plan 10 GB-211.
Plan. 5 March 1949.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, C-4 battery box for 2 1/2 ton locomotive, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company, Austinville, Virginia. Plan 7GB-1566.
Plan. 13 July 1949.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, sewage disposal system pump house, Bertha Mineral Division, New Jersey Zinc Company, Austinville, Virginia. Plan 1GB-641.

Folder 3. Plans. 1950-1957.

11 items.

Plan. 3 May 1950.

102.5 x 67.2 cm.

Plan, Flatwoods surface plant, general arrangement. Plan 7GB-3009.
Plan. 20 August 1951.

102 x 71 cm.

Plan, core house. Plan 1 GB-714.
Plan. 13 June 1953.

102 x 71.5 cm.

Plan, Ivanhoe hoist and change house opening details. Plan 1GB-1016.
Plan. 29 August 1954.

102.5 x 67 cm.

Plan, Austinville, Virginia, map of lower plant. Plan 1GB-172.
Plan. September 1954.

104.5 x 70 cm.

Plan, Ivanhoe pumping plan eleventh level. Plan, File, 7GB-3357.
Plan. 20 October 1954.

102 x 67 cm.

Plan, lower bottom change house building #42. Plan 1GB-750.
Plan. 23 December 1954.

101 x 68 cm.

Plan, Van Mater shaft rock bin wall plates, track layout and miscellaneous. Plan 1GB-746.
Plan. 16 February 1955.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, Flatwoods surface plant proposed sprinkler system. Plan 1GB-751.
Plan. 7 May 1956.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, control panel Ivanhoe remote surface pump control. Plan 15GB-364.
Plan. 14 March 1957.

102 x 68 cm.

Plan, garage addition, Ivanhoe hoist building. Plan 1GB-1023.
Plan. 21 October 1957.

102 x 68.5 cm.

Plan, Austinville-Ivanhoe ventilation door. Plan 7GB-3299.