Barton Mines

In 1878, Henry Hudson Barton's search for a better abrasive led him to Gore Mountain, where he discovered a unique hard rock source of garnet. His find proved to be the world's highest quality industrial garnet and has dominated the industry for more than 100 years. Garnet is a metamorphic rock formed under intense pressure and heat, and imperfect crystals fracture with sharp cutting edges nearly as hard as a diamond, making them ideal abrasives, while perfect crystals are cut as gemstones. Today, Barton Mines owns and operates mining and milling operations on nearby Ruby Mountain and on the coast of Western Australia. The North Creek facility is the world's oldest continuously operating garnet mine, producing material for cutting, specialty lapping and grinding, sandblasting, and abrasive coatings, and it also yields granite blocks sold to manufacturers of countertops and tiles. The building now used as the ticket office for the Upper Hudson River Railroad once stored garnet awaiting shipment on the Adirondack Railroad and later the D&H Railroad. In 2004, Barton's Ruby Mountain quarry supplied the cornerstone for the Freedom Tower in New York City.

North Creek, New York · United States