Old Iron Mine

    

I took this picture on July 27 when Edith, Peggy and I went on a Family Tree Trip.  This is one of the closed Iron Mines on the Stuart's Knob Iron Mine Trail at Fairy Stone State Park.  To the left, before the mine entrance was a large mound of "tailings".  Iron ore is broken down to separate the good iron ore from worthless sand and rock.  The ore is removed and waste is discarded--thus the mound of waste called "tailings".

The Park brochure tells us the iron mines operated off and on between 1780 and 1911.  After the Civil War, Sam Hairston purchased the land, later selling to J. B. Fishburn and Associates who operated the mine under the name Virginia Ore and Lumber Company from about 1906-1911.  The mines were closed due to pig iron imported at the same price, already smelted (refined and separated).  Mr. Fishburn became the sole owner of property in the mine area; he gave the land to the state of Virginia for the purpose of building a state park in the 1930's.

From a description written for the old Henry County Historical Society's tour of old homes we read about Hordsville, one of many Hairston plantations.  Date of tour was May 16, 1970.  "Located 10 miles west of Martinsville between Bassett and Fieldale is the brick, three-story, ante-bellum plantation house built in 1813 by Colonel George "Rusty" Hairston, while he was a senator in Richmond.  The 12-room mansion, with a cozy fireplace in every room, sits atop a small knoll, surrounded by flower gardens, lawn, huge boxwoods and towering trees.  There's a lot of iron work at Hordsville:  iron bases for the front porch pillars, even iron dishes.  This is because the founder of the Hairston Plantation had an iron works situated where the state's Fairy Stone Park is now.  The original plantation consisted of over 1,000 acres.  The land was bought from John Hord, who was born in England in 1700, and got the land from King George of England."

On August 6, 1967, my mother and father went on the Iron Mine Trail.  This is what she wrote in the Park brochure under Notes:  "This is a winding trail--Some real big trees--and after you get about no. 5 or 6 (mines), not so bad--winds back and forth until you are way up high, then winding back down hill--really enjoyed this old mine trail."

I hope everyone enjoys learning about history, visiting places that we can, and are lucky enough to have some mementoes of those places.  I especially appreciate this note, handwritten by my mother, Ida Carter (1913-2000).  My father died in 1970.

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