Information Sheet

 

 

R         Missouri.

620                  Historic mining photographs, ca. 1880s-1910s.

                                    110 views.

 

 

 

This is a collection of photographs concerning mining industries in Missouri, with an em­pha­sis on the Old Lead Belt of southeastern Missouri, and the Tri-State mining district centered on Joplin in Jasper County, Missouri.  The subjects include surface installations of various mines, mining equipment, mills, and general views of the mining areas.

 

The collection is comprised of several sets of black and white photographs of mining enter­prises at the end of the nineteenth century.   The photographs may have been prepared for class­room instruction at the Missouri School of Mines, now the University of Missouri-Rolla.  Not all of the photographs are identified, but many appear to show areas in Missouri or locations in Okla­homa and Kansas which comprised the Tri-State mining district.  Among the unidentified views there are many excellent “generic” views of hand-powered and mule-powered windlasses, mine head complexes, mill interiors, and general mining panoramas.  All of the views feature surface in­stallations or interiors of buildings.  There are no views of underground operations.

 

Lead and zinc mining operations outnumber any other type of mining represented in the col­lection.  The photographic coverage includes operations at Flat River and Doe Run in the Old Lead Belt of St. Francois County, and mining sites at Mine La Motte in Madison County, Palmer in Washington County, and Graniteville in Iron County.  There are also four photographs con­cerning F. P. Graves, the superintendent of the Doe Run Mining Company at Doe Run, Missouri.  From the Tri-State district, there are views of lead and zinc mines around Alba, Carterville, Chitwood, Duenweg, Joplin, and Webb City in Jasper County.  There are also single views of a mine near Aurora in Lawrence County, and the Lenox Mine at “Mudville.”

 

The collection has been arranged in two series:

 

SERIES 1   (78 views)

 

This is a set of photographs of mining scenes, ca. 1880s-1910s.  They are mounted on linen pages punched for a four-ring binder.  Some of the views are identified as to location, others bear the notation: “ask Buehler, ” referring to H. A. Buehler, chief of the Missouri Geological Survey.  Many of the unidentified photographs appear to be views of the Joplin mining district.  The sub­jects include mine heads, hoisting houses, boiler rooms, mills, railroad loading chutes, and vari­ous types of equipment.  The prints bear sequential numbers but not all of the items in the series are extant.

 

SERIES 2   (32 views)

 

This series is a collection of general views of mining operations, ca. 1880s-1900s.  The pho­tographs include locations in the mineral region of southeastern Missouri, and the mining district centered on Joplin.  Subjects include general views of lead and zinc mining sites in various stages of development, surface installations and shops, the interiors of mills, and milling equipment.  Four views by photographer C. L. Cline of Doe Run, Missouri, feature the residence and collections of F. P. Graves, superintendent of the Doe Run Lead Company.

 

 

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