Mining and Iron Manufacturing
Authored By: D. E. Davis
Mining was an important industry in the Southern Appalachians, and mining industries had important environmental impacts in the region. The following sections discuss the role of the iron, coal, gold, and copper in the local economies of the Southern Appalachians and describe their effects on surrounding forests.
Subsections found in Mining and Iron Manufacturing
- Iron Manufacturing : While agriculture certainly had an important effect on the southern Appalachian landscape prior to the Civil War, the industry that had the biggest environmental impact on the region was iron manufacturing.
- Copper Mining : One of the most environmentally devastating industries to exploit the natural resources of the southern Appalachians was the copper industry, which became centered in the great copper basin of north Georgia and southeast Tennessee.
- Coal Mining : Large timber reserves and rich iron ore deposits were vitally important to the early economic development of the southern Appalachians. A third natural resource "coal" played an equally important role in the industrial development of the region during the
- Gold Mining : The nation's first major gold rush occurred in north Georgia when gold was discovered somewhere in present day Hall, Habersham, or White counties sometime between 1826 and 1828, depending on the account.
Encyclopedia ID: p1575
