This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student documentary initiative, called "Stories: Yes." The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
Students in Wytheville, Virginia, in cooperation with Town of Wytheville Department of Museums and the Edge 4-H Club of Wythe County, explore the history of their town.
Speaker 1 (00:35): Wythe County, nestled in Southwest Virginia, boasts a rich history of mining. It all started in 1790, with the discovery of lead.
Speaker 2 (00:43): Mining wasn't just pickaxes and iron carts. It was more than just a necessity of resources. Most people thought these communities would perish with failing industries, but instead, those resources were converted into a tool to set the tone for a new chapter in our history.
James Early (00:58): Well, I guess that was started with the old iron furnace, mainly. And they mined iron ore, open pit, they'd just dig a hole.
John Davis (01:20): In Wythe County, there were 14 furnaces, and eight of them were in Cripple Creek, or close to Cripple, within walking distance, basically. Well, the furnaces stopped producing. The big furnace, biggest furnace in the county, is Noble, which is a mile from my house, and it's last blast was in 1884.
Sam Sweeney (01:44): But for years and years, it was iron ore. They brought out zinc and other chemicals, and other minerals and stuff that can be utilized in different manufacturing processes.
Dean Taylor (01:57): You had a lot of the iron ore, copper, there was different varieties of clay that they would use for paint pigments, colorings and stuff like that.
Daisy Rudy (02:15): They made a shaft where you went into the mines, and they got the lead and the zinc out of the mines.
Sam Sweeney (02:21): Now, one of the other things that people don't realize is that carbide plant used to be in Ivanhoe, as well. And, of course, they made the gas and the carbide for the lamps for miners, and other stuff down there.
Sam Sweeney (02:37): But they also had iron mines there. And, of course, again, part of the iron ore industry years and years ago.
Speaker 8 (02:46): As mining developed more and more, railroads and trains became a large influence in the mining business.
Speaker 2 (02:52): The map pictured shows the railroad that trails from Cripple Creek into Pulaski, Virginia.
Sam Sweeney (02:58): There used to be as many as 100 homes up through this valley, and they were all tied to the railroad, to the hotel, and to the iron ore industry.
Tommy Duncan (03:07): The railroad is an excellent position. It has wonderful benefits.
Speaker 2 (03:12): As the demand for resources grew, people saw an opportunity to make a difference.
Speaker 8 (03:18): New Jersey Zinc was another mineral extracting powerhouse in the 20th century.
Speaker 1 (03:23): So, New Jersey Zinc was definitely a benefit to Wythe County, and surrounding areas. People came from surrounding counties, and also a lot of the management came from up North, New York, and New Jersey, and stayed at the boarding house.
Speaker 1 1 (03:40): So, for somebody to be willing to leave their family to come to work in little Austinville, a rural community, for a company, I would say that company was a good company to work for.
Speaker 1 (03:53): At its peak during the 1950s, New Jersey Zinc employed approximately 650 workers.
Speaker 2 (03:59): New Jersey Zinc produced 2,400 tons of zinc per day.
Asset ID: 2022.05.01
Find a complete transcript: www.museumonmainstreet.org
