The Old Mine Road
Camp Pahaquarra History
Hine, C.G. 1909
The Old Mine Road (4th edition in 1985)
Rutgers Univ. Press; New Brunswick, NJ
ISBN: 0-8135-0427-9
Charles G. Hine wrote a book in 1906 that describes his hike along the Old Mine Road, beginning in Kingston, NY and ending near the Delaware Water Gap. He described the natural beauty of the countryside and related the history and legends linked with the road and the people who lived on its route. In the chapter on Pahaquarry, Hine stated:
"When I first came this way, in the Spring of 1907, there was a great noise of blasting. The price of copper was up and some gentleman of persuasive ways, believing that the mining of this ore would pay, started a company, sold stock and erected buildings containing much machinery, when lo!, the price of copper dropped and another dream was busted.
Interior of an old mine hole
"Now all is as quiet as it was after the Dutchmen got through two hundred and fifty years ago. The two mine holes are a few hundred feet up the small brook that seems quite happy again as it is said to be of them. No one knows who the original miners were, but the supposition is that they were some of the earliest Dutch explorers who disappeared long enough before the first actual settlers came to leave no memory or legend of themselves that is founded on anything more substantial than air. The surroundings are romantic and beautiful in the extreme, and it is a wonderful spot for a person with a well-trained imagination, provided he is careful not to sit down on a rattlesnake."
Exterior of an old mine hole
Larry Gering
Camp Pahaquarra 1969-1971
Sanhican Lodge Chief 1974
PhD in Forest Biometrics 1985