Local History: Tillard Pen Pictures, 1911, Altoona, Blair Co., PA - Minerals

Contributed by Judy Banja jbanja@msn.com

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               Pen Pictures of Friends and Reminiscent Sketches
                               by J. N. Tillard

            Altoona, PA: William F. Gable & Co., Mirror Press, 1911 

Sketches of Early Local History

AUTHOR'S NOTE-The following articles were written for the Altoona Mirror at 
odd times, several years ago, the subject matter having been gleaned by the 
author partly from various publications; partly from the folk lore stories he 
beard told in the old Pottsgrove flour mill during his childhood, and partly 
from personal observation.

                                              J. N. TILLARD DECEMBER 1, 1911

                           Some Local Mineral History

                  Lead Found Near Birmingham Many Years Ago and
                   Somewhere In Rugged Ridge Is The Mother Lode

WHILE it is well known that lead was mined in considerable quantities in 
Sinking Valley one hundred years ago, but comparatively few people are aware 
of the fact that the same vein apparently ran through the Brush, or, as some 
will have it, the Bald Eagle Mountain, and cropped out in the vicinity of 
Birmingham. As a matter of fact, in the early part of the last century, two 
men named Musser and Wells opened two lead mines along the Juniata, not far 
from Birmingham, and the work was superintended by a practical Scotch miner 
named Sinclair. It does not appear that there was ever any smelting works 
erected, but the ore in considerable quantities was taken out and as late as 
1832 was scattered over the ground, and an expert from Montgomery County who 
visited the place at that time expressed the opinion that the mineral was to 
be found in considerable quantities. Three shafts had been sunk to a great 
depth on the side of a limestone hill, but, as there was no mining machinery, 
the work was very expensive and the mining was abandoned.
  The fact that real lead in appreciable quantities was found on both sides 
of the mountain would strongly indicate that somewhere in the depths of the 
rugged ridge there is a mother lode that would be very valuable if uncovered 
and would add much to the mineral wealth of the Juniata Valley.
  In the first half of the last century the narrow valley lying between 
Spruce Creek and the confluence of the Bald Eagle Creek and the Little 
Juniata at what is now Tyrone was quite a lively place, of which Birmingham 
was the centre. In 1824 the town contained only nine houses, but by 1840 
there were two hundred and thirty-five inhabitants and six stores. Ten years 
later the engineers for the Pennsylvania Railroad came along and the rival 
and more pretentious town of Alexandria, on the canal and main branch of the 
Juniata, was destined to be sidetracked. However, Birmingham did not long 
remain the most populous place along the new road in that vicinity, as the 
natural configuration of the country led to the establishment of the chief 
town at the forks of the streams, and the new town of Tyrone soon 
overshadowed its older neighbor along the winding stream of many bridges.
  This brief reminiscent sketch has been inspired by the voice of the sweet 
girl graduate, for this is commencement time at the institution that still 
keeps the ancient town on the map, the girls' seminary. While as a mining, 
commercial or manufacturing centre Birmingham is something of a back number 
and the borough has not taken any great strides since it was incorporated in 
1827, it has the mellow air of age in this young country, and its 
surroundings are so tranquil and healthful as to make it an ideal place for 
quiet residence or study.
  Who knows but by the time the old post town of the Juniata comes to 
celebrate its centennial in 1927, which is not so far distant, some captain 
of industry or trained mineralogist may have been attracted by the lead 
deposits that first brought the settlement into existence a round hundred 
years ago, and so developed the find that huge mountain-destroying machinery 
may break up the peaceful calm that now envelopes it, and, instead of being a 
centre of culture and refinement, the chase for the dollar may cover its 
green hillsides with grime and fill its salubrious air with the smoke of the 
smelter. But suppose that any dream of the sort should materialize, would the 
place really be as satisfying as it is now, when, save for the passing of the 
railroad trains, the silence is not broken by any unseemly noise and the 
vespers of the school girls, gathered from more populous centres, waft across 
the valley on the evening air. If in the years to come the pleasant 
recollections they retain of quiet strolls among the pines and the firs that 
adorn the green hillsides are broken in upon by any violent change in the 
landscape, they will doubtless feel a distinct sense of loss in the way of 
materialized sentiment and will be sorry that the hand of the vandal has 
disturbed the sylvan scene.

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