George Isaac Whitlatch
Associate Geologist
Industrial Economist
Division of Industirla Development
Tennessee State Planning Commission
George Isaac Whitlatch did extensive work to find resources in TN. He published a few books regardiing the economic values of and where natural resources exist in TN. One of his first works was THE CLAYS OF WEST TN, and the importance of such minerals. In the 1820’s in America clays were used by pioneers to build homes, as well good for domestic-wares and bricks. In the 1874 book Killebrew and Safford Potteries (1874), it’s mentioned that many rich beds of potters clay of the finest quality exist in Henry Co., Tennessee. The father of the clay mining industry in west tn was Isadore Mandle, responsible for ball clay mining in Henry County, where 125 train cars per month were exported in 1897.
Prior to WWI, the bulk of the clays came from Europe. In the late 1930’s this started to change, and west TN and western KY mines accounted for more than 80 percent of the ball clay used in the United States.
Whitlatch conducted a state wide survey of the clay resources in TN, starting Fall of 1932 to the Summer of 1936. More than 525 samples were collected. Each were
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Ferruginous clays from limestones, shale, and loess and other bedsrock are the most common types of clay in TN. Plastic sedimentary clays exist in Henry, Weakley, and Carroll Counties, and occur in beds of sand in ripley (cretaceous formations), Holly Springs, Grenada, and Jackson of Tertiary Formations. These clays can be 60 to 80 feet thick. Most of these type of clays are used for pottery or ceramic wares, such as ball, wad, or sagger clays. Most clays of west tn were deposited via lagoonal processes (Berry 1980, p. 8). PAGE 14 Due to Whitlatch, industries have come back to realize the value of the Porters Creek clays for ooil bleaching properties, and in the manufacturing of light weight
The past one hundred and fifty years of Baltimore’s history have included many turbulent fluctuations in the way the city manages to thrive during the vast changes in how consumer-related products are manufactured. One of the most important ingredients to the city’s prosperity is in a mineral called chromite. Chromite is typically found in acidic soil along with serpentinite rock, a dark-green brittle rock in the soapstone family. During the late nineteenth century, chromite suddenly became a hot commodity as it was discovered in abundance on what is now a federally protected reserve called Soldier’s Delight, located just northwest of Baltimore City. At that time, the land was ripe for mining and chromite was found to be very versatile in the manufacturing of many items that were, at that time, unavailable like yellow and red paint, tanned leather, bricks for firing kilns, and, the most valuable use of all, chrome. The mining operation at Soldier’s Delight suddenly went full throttle during the early part of the twentieth century and Baltimore was seated in the perfect location for transporting these new products to places all over the world due to its connection to the Chesapeake Bay. However, the processing plant that received the mined chromite was not conscientious enough with the oxidized discharge from the chromite and allowed it to seep into the soil beneath the plant and enter into the groundwater. The effects were not known at the time, but the plant was doing the
Lenoir City tennessee was founded in the early 1800’s by William B. Lenoir. William B. Lenoir was a general in the Battle of King's Mountain and was rewarded 5000 acres of land which to us is now known as Lenoir City TN. Later in General Lenoir's life he dedicated this land to his son Major William B. Lenoir who moved here in the year 1810. Major Lenoir had many successful business going on from his thriving plantation to his well known cattle and hog production in the year of 1821. Before his death in 1852 Major Lenoir also contributed a well producing cotton and flour mill. After Lenoir's death his 4 sons formed William Lenoir and son and controlled 2700 acres of land but later sold it to The Lenoir City Company which later incorporated
During the First World War, our farmers worked very hard to help to produce wheat for an ever-increasing demand. Many new inventions such as the disk plow and the steam tractor helped with this endeavor. The land was stripped of its root system that held the soil in place. The topsoil was ground down into the very fine sand. “On the Great Plains, extensive plowing while ignoring environmental risks set the stage for the dust bowl of the 1930’s”(Eric Foner published 2017 - 5th edition). The many lessons learned from the dust bowl years would change the farmer’s agricultural world forever.
For at least one hundred miles inland, flat land and swamps were all around. Stated in Document B “It is remarkable for the diversity of its soil; that near the coast is generally sandy, but not therefore unfruitful; in other parts there is clay, loam, and marl; I have seen of the soil some high bluffs, near the sides of the rivers, that exactly resembles castile soap, and is not less variegated with red and blue veins, nor less clammy.” Basically, this quote is saying that near the swamps it was harder to grow their crops because of the different types of soil, like clay for example. Also back then it would be harder to identify the different kinds of
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a Blacksmith and a Munitions maker on a sugar plantation in the mid to late 1800s? During the excavations conducted at the Levi Jordan Plantation In Brazoria County, Texas, a cabin was investigated that indicates it was utilized as the residence of an individual that worked lead, manufactured lead shot, and possibly other metals. This cabin has been labeled as the “Smith’s Cabin”.
The discovery of “Fools Gold” is what led to the enriched and powerful development of the mining company. A Baltimore native John Detrick managed to hike along the Quantico Creek and discovered something shiny in the water which just so happened to be pyrite, also known as Iron Sulfide. With this discovery there came three shafts that lived pyrite. The Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine was the only pyrite mine in the area and really helped out the locals by boosting the economy and providing jobs for farmers who worked as laborers for the mine and then went home to tend to their farm after working. The company was such a big success that by 1917, Virginia produced more pyrite than any other state and continued to provide profitable income to families and businesses located in the area. This would be Batestown and Hickory Ridge at the time in history. With a booming economy, the mining company was able to rake in even more of a profit when World War I struck due to the fact that it was able to produce gunpowder during the mid-nineteenth century. The Cabin Branch Mining Company not only produced an income for the locals by pyrite carrying the main ingredient sulfur that was necessary to produce products like gunpowder, bleach, textiles, soap, medicine, etc. but it also contributed to the remarkable advantages the park would make with its preservation of the mine
Burns, Shirley Stewart. Bringing Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining on Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970-2004. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2007. Print.
A little bit of background on the town that figures so prominently in Dickson history: In 1824, an Englishman by the name of Aspdin, a stone mason of Leeds, burned limestone and clay together, then ground both into a powder, which when mixed with sand and water became exceedingly hard. The stone thus formed resembled the stone from the Isle of Portland, England. The product, therefore, acquired the name of Portland Cement.
The state of Texas is home to over a variety of different types of soil. There are over 1,300 different kinds of soil in Texas alone. Due to the fact that most of our land is used for farming, our soil is one of the most important resources. Texas is known for its diverse climate and landscape, so each part of the state has a particular soil to mirror what is needed. Texas has over twenty one divisions of major land reasource areas that have similar or related uses. Here are some examples of the different types of soils.
Holmes, Garnett, Bureau of Plant Industry United States, and Bureau of Chemistry and Soils United States. Soil Survey of The Yuma Area, Arizona-California. N.p.: Govt. print. off., 1905
The lithology of the Forest Hill in Wayne County is similar to that described for this formation in the counties in central and western Mississippi. The main difference is the occurrence of fossiliferous lenses (marine fossils) in the otherwise darkgray, silty to arenaceous, micaceous, carbonaceous clay. The term "Forest Hill Sand," which has been used in numerous publications, is a poor indicator of the formation's true litho logy, as Bob Ainsworth77 reported in his mineralogical and grainsize data paper published in 1967. His computed averages for Forest Hill samples collected in the Jackson and Vicksburg areas show 51 percent silt, 32 percent sand, and 17 percent clay. In Wayne County the percent of clay is considerably higher.
Prior to the Dust Bowl, American travelers flooded into Colorado because of the Gold Rush of 1858. In spite of the fields of Colorado being in an extremely dry state, sponsors and designers reached a conclusion that preservation of water would be important to cultivate without the advantage of a watering system framework. While looking for effective cultivating strategies for this unpleasant landscape, Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862 which permitted families to claim land. This urged a large number of families to move to the territory. Indeed, even in this way, families and ranchers would rely on upon the little rainfall to pulverize the dirt by delving more profound into it to bring the moist part on top so that the topsoil would
The “Dust Bowl” was the name given to the Great Plains region that was greatly affected by drought in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. The major contribution that led to the Dust Bowl was overproduction of crops however there were some natural causes. “Much of the soil there had been damaged by wind and rain. The soil in this area was subjected to
Focusing on the Roman soils and the Roman Empire,
Located in the western United States, the Powder River Basin is currently the United States largest producer of coal, and the coal that is produced here is some of the cleanest coal that is used in coal burning power plants. By producing such large quantities of low sulfur, clean burning coal, the Powder River Basin is of great interest, and we will examine the conditions and factors that helped to form some of the largest and cleanest coal seams in the world, along with coal production and other coal bed resources.