The Old York Road Historical Society will host their next lecture, The Mines and Minerals of Montgomery County by Ron Sloto, on Wednesday, April 12 at 7:30pm at Alverthorpe Manor, 515 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown.
From the Society’s press release:
Montgomery County’s mineral industry has a long history dating to the earliest years of colonization and continues today. During a history spanning more than 300 years, some of the mineral deposits were successfully exploited, and some were never economically viable. Mineral production today consists of crushed stone and some building stone. In the past, Montgomery County was a leading producer of iron ore and pig iron. It also produced copper ore and lead ore.
Beginning in the late 1600s, production of lime became an important industry supplying lime for agricultural use and for mortar and cement. The same rock formations provided magnesia for the large asbestos industry. Prior to 1840, Montgomery County was a major producer and exporter of marble. Portland cement was manufactured from locally quarried limestone for several decades. Other mineral products include refractories, sand, clay, and bricks.
Ron Sloto is on the research faculty of West Chester University. He serves as the curator for the mineral collection at the University, and is the Director of the WCU Geology Museum. He conducts research on the mineralogy of southeastern Pennsylvania.
Ron retired from the U.S. Geological Survey after a 41-year career that included publication of over 80 reports, journal articles, and abstracts. The HYSEP hydrograph-separation computer program he developed is in worldwide use. Ron has been a mineral collector since the age of 5 and also has a keen interest in history. He has published a book on the mining history and mineralogy of Montgomery County (“The Mines and Minerals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania”), as well as Chester, Berks, and Bucks Counties. All of the books are available on Amazon.com. His most recent publication is the journal article “Phosphate Minerals from Lime Ridge, Snyder County, Pennsylvania” in the September-October 2022 issue of The Mineralogical Record.Lectures are FREE and open to the public both In-person in The John Barnes Room at Abington Friends Meeting and on Zoom. Login details will be posted day of the event.
Mr. Sloto will have books available for purchase at the lecture. Softcover $35 and hardbound for $49. Cash or check only.
The lecture series is sponsored by a grant from the Jenkintown Lyceum. For more information, please call the Old York Road Historical Society at 215-886-8590.
For more information on Old York Road Historical Society, you can visit their website, Facebook page, and Instagram (oldyorkroadhistory), or call 215–886–8590.
Featured photo: The Perkiomenville quarry in Perkiomenville, Montgomery County, in 2018. Photo by Ron Sloto. Headshot courtesy of Chestnut Hill Local