Last updated: April 8, 2021
Place
Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine
NPS
The Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine began operations in 1889 after pyrite, or "fools gold," was discovered near the North and South Forks of the Quantico Creek. The Cabin Branch Mining Company operated from 1889 to 1908 on a limited basis and provided opportunities for industrial growth in the area following the Civil War. Pyrite was also used to create sulfur, which was a necessary ingredient in products such as glass, soap, bleach, textiles, paper, dye, medicine, sugar, rubber, and fertilizer. When World War I broke out, the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine contributed to the production of gunpowder.
Workers at the mine earned roughly $3.50 a day, though estimates vary. Some sources say workers earned as much as $4.25 a day. They worked two shifts, between ten and twelve hours a day, six days a week. Children sorted ore clumps into small, medium, and large sizes for 50 cents a day. Work at the mine was hard and hazardous and many of the men who worked at the mine had to tend to their farms after a long day of work in order to supplement their income. While the town of Dumfries was segregated by race, the mine was an integrated workplace where both African-American and white workers worked side-by-side. The daily challenges of the mine brought the workers closer together and resulted them in building support for each other.
There was also a company town, consisting of more than seventy buildings. There was a company store, machine shop, blacksmith, engine room and a small gauge railroad. When the railroad was not being used for mine operations, it took families, especially children, to the Potomac River to fish. Part of workers’ salaries came in the form of coupons for the company store. The town also included six dormitories for black workers and small houses for white employees and their families.
After World War I, the price of pyrite dropped and the mine closed in 1920. Nearly 30 years of mining took its toll on the land and environment, leaving the area stripped of trees and other natural vegetation. Following the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1970, the National Park Service began its work to reclaim the site by planting trees, capping the mine shafts with concrete, and rehabilitating the creek's banks.
Workers at the mine earned roughly $3.50 a day, though estimates vary. Some sources say workers earned as much as $4.25 a day. They worked two shifts, between ten and twelve hours a day, six days a week. Children sorted ore clumps into small, medium, and large sizes for 50 cents a day. Work at the mine was hard and hazardous and many of the men who worked at the mine had to tend to their farms after a long day of work in order to supplement their income. While the town of Dumfries was segregated by race, the mine was an integrated workplace where both African-American and white workers worked side-by-side. The daily challenges of the mine brought the workers closer together and resulted them in building support for each other.
There was also a company town, consisting of more than seventy buildings. There was a company store, machine shop, blacksmith, engine room and a small gauge railroad. When the railroad was not being used for mine operations, it took families, especially children, to the Potomac River to fish. Part of workers’ salaries came in the form of coupons for the company store. The town also included six dormitories for black workers and small houses for white employees and their families.
After World War I, the price of pyrite dropped and the mine closed in 1920. Nearly 30 years of mining took its toll on the land and environment, leaving the area stripped of trees and other natural vegetation. Following the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1970, the National Park Service began its work to reclaim the site by planting trees, capping the mine shafts with concrete, and rehabilitating the creek's banks.