Newbury MA Mines

Mining Lands Newbury MA

In 1878 silver was discovered in a large field off Scotland Road. This discovery made money for those who sold their land and those who became involved in what was known as the "Chipman Silver Mine." The mine produced $500,000.00 worth of silver and $100,000.00 in dividends. The mine closed in 1925.

 

Monday, May 10, 1875
Paper: Salem Register (Salem, MA)

Chipman Silver Mine, Scotland Road, Newbury, Massachusetts. Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center. Clipper Heritage Trail 


Thursday, August 26, 1875
Paper: Salem Register (Salem, MA)

From History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902 (1902)
  

 

 

Photo from Newbury Commerce Newburyport Historical Commission

Map of the Mining Lands at Newbury, Massachusetts N. Little
 

This is a rare and extremely unique pocket map showing the mining lands around Newbury, Massachusetts. In 1874, silver and gold were discovered in the town of Newbury. In that same year, the Chipman Silver Mine was established and worked through 1879, then again for a few years in the early 1900s. In this short period of time, the mine yielded half a million dollars in silver. This pocket map illustrates the location of the mine, labeled "Chipman's Lode" as well as the claims by nearby landowners. It also shows in great detail the town of Newbury and Newburyport, including property boundaries and landowners, roads and railroads, and rivers and creeks. It can be presumed that the maker of this map, N. Little was a local landowner in Newbury. There are several references on the map to various properties with the last name of Little.

From NE OldTOWNHILL

 

                                        Photo from Peter Cristofono


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Richards, R. H. (1875): The Newburyport Silver Mines (T.A.I.M.E. 3:442-445)

Richards, Ellen H. (1875): Chemical Composition of Some Mineral Species from Newburyport Lead Ore (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. xvii, 462-465)

Brockway, Charles J. (1875): Mineral Deposits in Essex County, Massachusetts, especially in Newbury and Newburyport; with Map. Newburyport, MA (pamphlet).

Baird, Spencer F., ed. (1876): "The Massachusetts Silver-Lead Mines" in Annual Record of Science and Industry for 1875 (NY: Harper & Bros.), pp. 245-246.

Beach, Alfred E., ed. (1876): "Mines of Gold, Silver, Copper, and Lead in Massachusetts," in The Science Record of 1876 (NY: Munn & Co.), p. 46.

Hibbard, Henry D. (1878): On the Smelting of Silver-Lead Ore from Merrimac Mine. Abstracted from MIT Thesis by the author. President’s Report for the Year Ending Sept. 30, 1877. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston: A. A. Kingman, pp. 76-79.

Jenney, Walter (1878): Report on the Working, for Silver and Gold, of a Middle Grade Product from Ore of the Merrimac Mine, Newburyport. Abstracted from MIT Thesis by the author. President’s Report for the Year Ending Sept. 30, 1877. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston: A. A. Kingman, pp. 79-80.

Hitchcock, Charles Henry (1878): The Geology of the Ammonoosuc Mining District, pp. 106-107.

Hitchcock, Charles Henry (1878): The Geology of New Hampshire, Part V: Economic Geology, pp. 34-35.

Crosby, William Otis (1880): Contributions to the Geology of Eastern Massachusetts. Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History vol. III. Boston: Printed for the Society.

McDaniel, B.F. (1884): Geology and Mineralogy of Newbury in Bulletin of the Essex Institute, volume XV.

Sears, John Henry (1894): Geological and Mineralogical Notes, No. 9 in Bulletin of the Essex Institute, volume XXVI.

Hovey, Horace C. (1901): The Lead and Silver Mines of Newbury [Massachusetts] (Sci. Amer. Sup. 51, 1901).

Towle Manufacturing Co.(1901): Newbury: A Pattern of Flatware Made in Silver by the Towle Mfg. Company; with Some History of Newbury, Massachusetts and Its Progenitor, Newbury, England (Chicago, IL & Newburyport, MA: Towle Mfg. Co., Silversmiths), p. 23.

Sears, John Henry (1905): The Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology of Essex County. Massachusetts. Salem, MA: Essex Institute.

Clapp, C. H. and W. G. Ball (1909): The Lead-Silver Deposits at Newburyport, Massachusetts and Their Accompanying Contact-Zones (Economic Geology, 4(3):239-250).

Bartsch, Rudolf C. B. (1941): New England Notes (Rocks & Minerals 16:56)

Palache, Charles (1950): Chipman Lead-Silver mine in Newbury, Mass. (Rocks & Minerals 25:247)

D'Agostino, J. P. (1969): Massachusetts: "Gold in Ores from Newburyport District" in USGS Heavy Metals Program Progress Report 1968 - Field Studies (USGS Circular 621)

Marshall, John. (1970): The Chipman Lead-Silver Mine (Rocks & Minerals 45:306)