Closed, endangered, and just plain GONE collecting sites

There's one subject that's very closely tied to the emotions of mineral and fossil collectors: site closures. For a variety of reasons, many once-great collecting areas are no longer accessible: housing developments, parking lots, golf courses, and "no trespassing" signs have greedily gobbled up collecting sites during the past few decades. The rate seems to have accelerated since the 1980's.

Talking about closed sites is a great way to make certain people angry-- especially the owners of the property that's closed. Why? No one likes to hear that their decision was a bad one, or unpopular with certain groups, or anything negative.

I've been thinking about the concept of obligation as it applies here. An operating quarry does not have an obligation to allow collectors in. However (and this is a big however): a locality which is mineralogically unique in the world-- such as Franklin-- does in my opinion have an obligation to preserve its mineral sites from the ravages of housing developments, shopping centers, and so forth. When a site is paved over and built upon, usually there is no going back... unless you or I get rich some day, buy 'em out, and tear up the asphalt to let trees grow and collectors in once again.

There are two extremes of thinking behind the tug-of-war that has been going on for decades in the industrialized world. One extreme would like to seal off vast tracts of land from all human activity; the other would like to cram as many tract houses onto the face of the earth as possible. Neither extreme seems especially interested in the wants or needs of the average Joe and Jane.

The good news-- there has to be some good news in all this!-- is that there are people who appreciate a bit of moderation and who work to keep collecting sites open. In the eastern states such as New Jersey, the private sector has kept more mineral sites open than has the public sector; however, there are stand-out examples of government-run collecting sites (e.g., Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas).

The list of closed sites in New Jersey alone is considerable. Following is only a partial list:

Lime Crest Quarry, Sparta, NJ. A bunch of people moved in next to the quarry, started complaining, and got the quarry shut down because they didn't like the noise and the dust. This time, the squeaky wheel shut down the whole plant. What happened to Lime Crest is, in my opinion, an affront to common sense.

The biggest taxpayer in Sparta Township is not going to be supporting that tax burden for residents anymore. Plus, the largest and most productive opening we had into the Franklin Marble is now closed and full of water, making it useless and off-limits. This is a great blow to amateur and professional mineralogy... not to mention a raw deal for the company that operated the quarry.

Hey, people, here's a word of advice: If you don't want to live next to an operating quarry that's been there for over a hundred years, then don't move there in the first place.

Above: Carnelian from Stirling Brook near Watchung, NJ. There are conflicting reports about this site's status. For now it's in a grey area, but I'll keep it on the endangered list.

Amber collecting site, Sayreville area, NJ. As far as I know, this one is gone. This amber locality, known to amber collectors across the world, was no match for urban development.

American Copper Company mine dumps, Bridgewater area, NJ. Private property; malachite, azurite, native copper, and chrysocolla are now beneath a bunch of houses. No trespassing.

Atlas Quarry, Hamburg, NJ. Housing complexes and tennis courts are just about everywhere. Good specimens of corundum are very rare. Guess what happened, then.

I've heard that in the past couple of years there have been FOMS collecting trips to the Atlas Quarry, so all is not lost here. I guess there were some areas where houses couldn't fit.

Chimney Rock Quarry, Bound Brook, NJ. Emphatically closed to collectors; patrolled vigorously.

Thankfully there are a few specimens floating around on the market from way-back-when, though we'd all like to see more.

It so happens that native copper specimens don't get along so well with the big rock crushers used at quarries, so maybe there's a pile of native coppers the quarry owners will eventually release on the market. (I'm thinking wishfully here.) Copper specimens bring considerably more money as specimens than as driveway stone.

Farber Quarry between Franklin and Ogdensburg, New Jersey.

I suppose this comes as no surprise, especially after the closing of Lime Crest. I am fairly certain I wasn't imagining things when I read about plans to build housing or condos in the Farber. It makes sense, after all: mineral localities have some innate property that makes them appealing for housing developments.
There's a special kind of effrontery that goes with naming housing developments and their thoroughfares; I wouldn't be surprised to see a "Norbergite Street" or a "Marble Drive" spring up where the rocks used to be.

Frontier Road copper collecting site, Bridgewater, NJ. Now the home of an office building and a sports arena. "No Trespassing" signs and security cameras abound.

Lake Valhalla serpentine and diopside locality, Montville, NJ. This is part of a park now. Collecting is apparently not allowed. They want the specimens to remain in the ground "so everyone can enjoy them"... in their imaginations.

Mill Site, Franklin, New Jersey.

I've spoken to a few Franklin collectors who've said the Mill Site is now gone; however, some of the rock was transferred to the Museum. I'm told that at some point this material will be open to collecting, but not for (I think) three years. This is a much better outcome than the rocks simply being plowed under and built upon. It is encouraging to see that the property owner was at least somewhat sympathetic to the heritage of Franklin.

Speaking of heritage, the town of Franklin needs to realize how the rest of the world views it- as a place for minerals. It's possibly the most famous mineral locality on earth. That's not something you can just go out and build or buy.

Ask yourself why else anyone would want to travel hundreds, even thousands, of miles to visit a place like Franklin and spend money there. There are a million strip malls and amusement parks already. There is only one Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World.

I've criticized the town planners of Franklin in the past (see below under "Parker Dump"). Some have disagreed with me. Since the 1950's, 60's, and 70's were such pivotal years for the future of Franklin's sites, I believe much blame still rests on the decision makers of that era. To them, the big piles of mine rocks were a nuisance. If only they'd had a broader perspective and more of an appreciation for the uniqueness of their town. In this modern age of broken families, gang violence, and diminished regard for one's fellow humans, there are probably a lot of towns that wish their biggest problem was a huge pile of fluorescent minerals that occurred nowhere else in the world and attracted tourists from nearly everywhere.

Millington Quarry, Millington, NJ.

This is what happened, at least how I've heard it from people who used to collect there: Somebody on a collecting trip in the past wouldn't stay away from a hazardous area... even after repeated warnings. Result: everyone out! No more collecting trips there.

I don't wonder why. The lawsuit mentality has stifled so much progress and incurred so many hidden costs for Americans that I won't even try to discuss them here.

The concept of litigation answers a real need for accountability, but the "hot coffee lawsuit" should have been a joke, not a real event. Likewise, if someone trips on a rock and gets hurt, common sense should tell us it's nobody else's fault but the person who tripped.

Welcome to the 21st Century, where common sense, she no home. However, I understand that in a couple of South American countries you can still collect minerals all you want, and if you fall and get hurt, the judge will tell you to get lost.

Parker Dump, Franklin, NJ.

The town built its firehouse and a parking lot directly on top of the Parker in 1963. In my opinion, this was the first of a series of grievous mistakes by the town of Franklin in [not] preserving the area's mineral heritage.

Someone emailed me and defended Franklin's choice of location for a firehouse, saying it "saved lives". Hey, if I bulldozed a unique landmark, a park, or someone's house and put a hospital in its place, that would "save lives" too. The fact of the matter would remain that the location was a poor choice.

It really amazes me that Franklin's town planners were so short-sighted in the past. Will they do better in the future? (see above, under "Mill Site", for more about this)

Schuster Park, Franklin, NJ. Some very fine margarosanites came from this area, not to mention other good finds. There were Parker Shaft minerals that had been dumped there years ago during the mining operation... so the town of Franklin covered it with a park and a helipad.

Scrub Oaks Iron Mine dumps, Dover, NJ. Private property; no trespassing. There used to be some good specimens found here, including the rare-earth mineral synchysite ("doverite").

Taylor Road, Franklin, NJ. Private property; covered by houses during the past 20 years or so.

Update: The Taylor Road Dump is a small remnant of its former self (primarily due to development), so I won't remove it from this list, but in the past few years there have been some collecting trips to the remnants of it. Abundant credit is due to the local man who generously donated the property to the Franklin Mineral Museum in order to preserve its mineral heritage. Thanks also go to the museum for doing what they do, of course.

Schuyler Copper Mine, North Arlington, NJ.
One of the oldest mines in the country, the Schuyler Mine was founded around 1715 and once yielded distinctive specimens of pseudomalachite. I have not visited this site, but I understand it was closed to collectors years ago.

Upper New Street Quarry, West Paterson, NJ.
Quite possibly one of the world's most famous zeolite locations, this quarry once yielded some magnificent prehnites, heulandites, pectolites, and even amethyst quartz crystals. Last I saw the place, it was vacant, fenced-in, and surrounded by condos.

As I understand it, the locality has been closed to collectors. If someone can provide an update or some first-hand info, I'd appreciate it.

Zeolite quarries, Lambertville, NJ.

Nevermind what you see in that old field trip guide. It's a prison work camp now. Don't go near it or they'll arrest you.

When my mom took me there as a kid in the 1980's (we were following one of those "mineral and gem trails" books) they threatened to arrest us just for going up to the front and asking questions. Nice folks, they were.

What can you do?

For sites that are already closed, there's usually nothing you can do. To preserve sites that are still open, join your local rock / mineral / fossil club! Why not join a couple of them? You don't have to live in an area to join its mineral club. Just stay active and make your voice heard... just try to stay rational and keep your cool in any heated debates that arise. It is up to every collector to portray us all as a responsible bunch. Once in a while, clubs are able to open up new areas to collecting-- if they can give a favorable impression of collectors.

Museums are another fine resource for those interested in rocks, minerals, and fossils. However, if all collecting localities were to disappear, I'd bet that mineral museums would begin to close up from lack of serious interest. I for one have little interest in going to a museum in which none of the mineral species can still be field-collected.

Conversely, being able to collect specimens of classic Franklin and Sterling Hill minerals-- in the field, under the sun-- makes it worth the long drive to get there.

Environmentalism can work either for or against the mineral collector. There is a reflexive response to take an area and seal it off to nearly every kind of public use, then to manage it by hiring a bunch of snide bureaucrats and iron-fisted park rangers with the power to detain you indefinitely for stepping on a wildflower.

To the mineral hobbyist, environmentalism in moderation is certainly more of a friend than wanton overdevelopment and a world covered in condominiums and apartment complexes. Obviously, though, the "take only pictures, leave only footprints" philosophy should not apply to certain places. It is important to remember that most minerals survive much longer in collections than they do outside on the ground or near the surface, where acid rain, freeze-thaw cycles, and other environmental factors ultimately destroy them.

If people hadn't salvaged specimens from some of the great localities a hundred years ago, these specimens wouldn't simply be unavailable; many of them wouldn't exist at all.

Turning an endangered locality into a park may sound like a good idea, but this usually leads to strict rules against collecting anything (for an example, see below: "Quartz Crystal Locality"). The worst of all happens when you start out with a unique place like that, but then you put someone in charge of it who doesn't even know anything about it or have any real appreciation for it.

You can ride your bicycle or take a hike through many different places, but you can find certain minerals in only one place on earth.

For a new collector, one of the surest disappointments is to get hold of an old book called "Mineral and Gem Trails" of such-and-such area (they made them for many states from the 60's through the 80's) only to find 99% of the areas are absolutely closed to collectors.

When I was a child, my family took me around on wild goose chases to almost all of the sites listed for New Jersey. Of them all, only the Buckwheat Dump and the Trotter Dump were still truly open to collectors. As years passed, the Trotter closed, leaving only the Buckwheat (more on that later).

There were, however, a few sites that were "open" in a shady sort of way (i.e., not posted, so we just walked in and poked around until we got thrown out, which was usually), but we learned to stay away from those places pretty quickly. So much for mineral and gem trails of New Jersey.

Looking on the bright side, this was before the Hauck brothers acquired and opened up the Sterling Hill locality to collectors. The world needs more people like Dick and Bob Hauck.

Quartz Crystal Locality - Montague, NJ. I hadn't even known about this one until I met up with Jeff Wilson at the 2008 Sterling Hill "Diggg". The quartz crystals that came out of this site were truly stunning, especially for New Jersey. I'm talking about water-clear, flawless quartz crystals that rivaled Arkansas material.

For decades there had been collecting on the site. Then, in 2007, the site became State property and was closed. The Tri-States Rock and Mineral Club has more information on their web site.

In 2000 or so I had heard of another quartz crystal locality in Sussex County, this one closer to Hamburg. Like the Montague site, the Hamburg one is no longer open. I understand it was obliterated to make way for some construction.

Before we automatically accept the pronouncement that a mineral resource must always be treated to one of the two extremes (i.e., obliteration on the one hand, being made off-limits on the other), let us consider Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. I consider the fee-dig model to be a win-win situation. It doesn't cause global warming, either.