Benson Mines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Benson Mines | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| State | New York |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 44°10′34″N 74°59′53″W / 44.176°N 74.998°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Iron Ore |
| Type | Open Pit |
| History | |
| Discovered | 1810 |
| Opened | 1890 |
| Closed | 1978 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation |
| Year of acquisition | 1941 |
The Benson Mine is an iron-ore mine located near Star Lake, a village in the southern St. Lawrence County, New York.
The ore body at Benson Mine was discovered in 1810 by engineers conducting a survey for a new military road from Albany to Ogdensburg.[1] In the 1950s, the mine was considered the largest open-pit iron-ore mine in the world.[2][3] The mine was finally closed in 1978.
21st century
The engineers noticed the spinning of their compass needles due to the large quantities of magnetic ore under their feet.[4] In 1889, the Magnetic Iron Company began developing the Star Lake ore body,[5] which sat under some three-thousand acres of land. Production of ore halted in 1893 with a depression in the iron ore industry, but resumed in 1900.[6] In 1910, the Benson Mines Company bought the site from the Magnetic Iron Company[7] and continued operations on and off until 1918.[8] At the onset of World War II, Benson Mines reopened when Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation leased the site. The U.S Department of Defense built ore processing facilities and the iron-ore was shipped to Pittsburgh for use in the war effort.[9] The mining operation expanded significantly in the 1950s, and was renamed the New York Ore Division, although control remained in the hands of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation.[10] At its height, the company employed 840 workers in 1960.[11]
With the economic prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s the Company took a leading role in community development. The company published a magazine called Men and Steel, which provided “general information about different parts of the plant… *as well as+…personal interest stories, *and+ weddings births, deaths, anniversaries, and other family news…” In 1952, the magazine highlighted the Company’s financial contributions to town projects, which included construction of the Central School building, water system, housing project, and hospital.
In late 2016, negotiations between St Lawrence County and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and other agencies, ended in an agreement allowing demolition of the remaining buildings on the site to begin.[12] By the end of 2018, almost all buildings and structures on the site had been demolished. In October 2023, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York Energy Research and Development Authority is seeking a partner to transform the site into "one of the largest" solar projects in the Adirondack Park, with the intention of the project helping New York reach its clean energy goals.[13]
