Tasha Benyshek, archaeologist with TRC Garrow
Associates of Atlanta, examines the remains of the rhodolite
mine at Ruby City, once a thriving business at the turn of the
20th century. The weathered concrete structure was discovered
near the summit of the Balsam Mountains on 4,400 acres now owned
by Balsam Mountain Preserve. To give BMP "a sense of place,"
Cherie Pittillo, executive director of the company's trust,
plans to recreate portions of the mountain mining community
and needs information and pictures from area residents to help
with the restoration project. Contact Pittillo at 631-1061 or
e-mail at cpittillo@balsammoutain.com. - Herald photo by
Rose Hooper
By Rose Hooper
As the cool mist rose from the headwaters of Sugar Loaf Creek,
haunting ruins are revealed.
At first glance the series of imposing weathered walls resemble
an ancient archeological find. The structure, hidden 4,400 feet
high near the summit of the Balsam Mountains, is the remains
of Ruby City, a turn-of-the-20th-century mining operation.
The thriving community centered around two mines and included
a boarding house for the workers, a power house, a supervisor's
house, spring house, a horse and cow barn and a blacksmith shop.
Now all that's left is a free-standing rock fireplace, the cement
foundation of the mine and remnants unearthed from the area
like brown glass medicinal bottles and pieces of china.
Your help is needed
The folks at Balsam Mountain Preserve who now own the property
would like to recreate Ruby City - and you might be able to
help them.
"We want to give Balsam Mountain Preserve a sense of place,"
said Cherie Pittillo, executive director of the BMP's non-profit
Balsam Mountain Trust. "To do that, we are trying to understand
the culture that was here before."
BMP is looking for people whose family members may have worked
at Ruby City. They are interested in oral histories about the
mountain community, and they would be delighted beyond belief
if anyone has old photographs of the structures.
Already Jackson County residents like Clyde Norman and Grover
Fisher have been a big help in sharing what they know.
Clyde Norman's account
Norman's father, Sam, worked for the Ruby City mine in a variety
of jobs such as carrying the mail up to the camp, oiling the
machinery in the reducing mill and helping with the work horses.
Norman recalled that most of the men were from the local area
but lived at the boarding house instead of traveling home every
day. There were between 25 and 30 men working at the mine. They
included miners, men working in the reducing mill, a full-time
blacksmith whose job it was to sharpen and repair tools used
by the miners, the boarding house cook, mill supervisor Bob
Stabineau and a few other general purpose workers.
Norman recalled the large apple orchard on the southern slope
of the property, behind Locus J, the supervisor's house. There
were also chickens and milk cows at the camp, providing milk,
butter, eggs and meat for the inhabitants, he said.
According to Norman, the supplies and groceries for the camp
came from "Old man Bob Snyder's store down at the Hall
Siding in Willets." Snyder ran a general store at the depot
that also contained the local post office. Four or five trains
ran through Hall Siding every day, picking up and leaving supplies
for Ruby City, as well as the local community, Norman said.
As a small child Norman played on the mining cars that hauled
the ore out of the mine, riding them down the tracks with the
other local children.
Here's what the National Abrasive Manufacturing
Co. mill looked like during its operating days in the early
1900s under the direction of owner Armistead Silas Jones. Although
the mine was later renamed Ruby City, garnets, not rubies, were
crushed and milled on-site and then sent by rail to Waynesville
for sizing and distribution as an abrasive grit in sandpaper
and grinding wheels.
Grover Fisher lived on site
Grover Fisher, now 81, spent eight or nine years living at Ruby
City when he was a child. His parents, James Fisher and Eliza
Cagle Fisher, worked for the Rhodolite Co., where his mother
was the boarding house cook and his father was a reducing mill
worker and later watchman for the property.
His mother made butter that was kept along with the milk and
other perishables in the spring house, Fisher recalled. The
springhouse, he said, was a small wooden building with a concrete
floor approximately 14 feet by 10 feet in size. The spring head
pipe directed water into a concrete trough running along the
length of the springhouse floor in which the milk and butter
were placed.
How Sugar Loaf Creek got its name
According to Fisher, many people have made moonshine up at Ruby
City over the years. He said that moonshine stills were running
during the mining years and for quite a bit of time afterward.
In fact, Sugar Loaf Creek, which runs along the eastern side
of Ruby City, was reputedly named such because of the large
quantities of sugar carried up the mountain to make moonshine.
A number of moonshine stills dotted the banks of Sugar Loaf
Creek, remains of which can be seen today, particularly the
iron sheeting, mason jars and small chunks of concrete near
the creek.
Remnants of china pieces used at the Ruby City
boarding house have been found on the Balsam Mountain Preserve
property. According to Clyde Norman, most of the men who worked
at the mine, between 25 and 30 of them, were from the local
area but lived at the boarding house instead of traveling home
every day. "You might think the china they used would be plain
and simplistic, but according to the pieces we've found, the
pattern and style were rather sophisticated," said Balsam Mountain
Trust Executive Director Cherie Pittillo. - Herald photo
by Rose Hooper
Shut down
"I wasn't too big when they shut down the mine," said
Fisher, whose family moved into the "white house"
along with the Rhodolite Co. superintendent, William Fisk. The
Rhodolite Co. hired Fisk to manage the closing of the mining
camp, and he remained up at Ruby City several years after it
closed, Fisher said. The mining equipment was auctioned off
in 1935.
No rubies at Ruby City
Contrary to common belief, ruby (a pink or red variety of the
mineral corundum) was not mined at Ruby City. Rather, the pink
mineral that was extracted is a garnet known as rhodolite.
Under the direction of owner Armistead Silas Jones, the National
Abrasive Manufacturing Co. of New York began mining garnets
from the Sugar Loaf Mine around 1900. This mine was later renamed
Ruby City.
The garnet was crushed and milled on-site and then sent by rail
to Waynesville for sizing and distribution as an abrasive grit
in sandpaper and grinding wheels. Although the mine operated
at a profit for awhile, it was doomed to failure by competition
from cheaper Canadian sources and the introduction of synthetic
abrasives.
Preserving the past
Often, in western culture, old things, like the Ruby City ruins,
do not survive the march of time. Old structures are generally
torn down and replaced with newer, more modern ones.
"But Ruby City is one place where the din of progress has
been gently silenced for the sake of preserving important local
history," said Pittillo.
As executive director of the Balsam Mountain Trust, it is her
responsibility to help preserve and protect the community's
environmental and cultural history.
"That's where I need the help of long-time Jackson County
residents," said Pittillo. "To recreate Ruby City,
we need pictures and oral histories of the mining community."
If you have any to share, contact Pittillo at 631-1061 or by
e-mail at cpittillo@balsammoutain.com.
