Archives:The History of Zinc Mining in Friedensville, Pennsylvania
Abstract
In the late 1840s and early 1850s, the New Jersey Zinc Company conducted experiments at its Newark Zinc Works on treating zinc ore from the Franklin and Sterling Hill, New Jersey, mines. In 1852, this work led to the first limited production of zinc oxide in the United States. However, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Friedensville, located four miles to the south, were to become the center of zinc oxide production in the U.S. starting in 1853, and of zinc metal (spelter) production shortly thereafter. The history of the Friedensville mines is directly tied to the Pennsylvania plants that consumed their ores to make these salable products.
Citation and Article Link
L. Michael Kaas, “The History of Zinc Mining in Friedensville, Pennsylvania,” in ‘’The Mining History Journal’’ (Canon City, CO: Mining History Association, 2016), 17-42.
The History of Zinc Mining in Friedensville, Pennsylvania by L. Michael Kaas
