The Springfield Township Historical Society will present a program, “The Mining Industries of Southern Montgomery County”, on Thursday, November 5, at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom.
Guest …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
The Springfield Township Historical Society will present a program, “The Mining Industries of Southern Montgomery County”, on Thursday, November 5, at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom.
Guest speaker Ronald A. Sloto, a research professor of earth and space sciences, West Chester University and author of several books, including the 2019 self-published book, The Mines and Minerals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Sloto worked for 41 years for the U.S. Geological Survey before he began research at West Chester University.
In his books, which also include The Mines and Minerals of Berks County and The Mines and Minerals of Chester County, Sloto put together his interest in mineralogy, history and geology in one place. While working on the books, he was able to explore some mines and quarries, while others are gone. According to Sloto, the quarries are being filled in and built on. Corson's Quarry in Plymouth Meeting still operates one while another has been built on and another is being filled in to be built on. Montgomery County once produced sandstone, building stone, marble and iron. Quarries in Springfield Township included a stone quarry with iron ore deposits at the northwest corner of Walnut Ave. and Oreland Mill Road in Oreland, where Sandy Run Park is now located.
In the 1950s, crushed limestone, riprap, road material and railroad ballast were produced by the quarry. It flooded during a spring snowstorm that knocked out power, shut down pumps and submerged the quarry. It was purchased by the U.S. Navy in the early 1960s for underwater sonar testing and the site was known as the U.S. Navy Deep Water Facility. Springfield Township accepted ownership of the site from the United States Department of the Interior in 1999 and opened the 14-acre Sandy Run Park.
This program was originally scheduled for March but was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pre-registration is required so that the Zoom link can be sent to interested guests. Deadline to register is Wednesday, November 4. To sign up, please send your name and email address to Katie Worrall, secretary, Springfield Township Historical Society board of directors, at worrallkatie@aol.com.
