It wouldn’t come as a surprise to most people that mining is the most prevalent industrial sector in Somerset County. According to mining database, “thediggings.com,” there have been 17 separate mining companies in Somerset County since the founding of our nation. Arguably, the most important of these mines towards our nation’s history is inactive. The site of the Bridgewater/American Mining Company is buried deep within a residential neighborhood between Stella Drive and Starview Way in Bridgewater. The Bridgewater/American Mining Company’s rich history is not due to the amount of ore deposits collected, but rather the stories behind its existence. Let’s dig in.
Bridgewater/American Mining Company
The site of the Bridgewater/American Mining Company falls in the geological area known as the Piedmont province. The Piedmont province is mapped from geological processes such as lava flows and continental shifts dating back to the Late Triassic Period. During this period, New Jersey shared a border with modern day Morocco. These processes created the rock and mineral makeup in Somerset County that became present during the time of human settlement. The minerals mined by European colonists include iron, copper, and zinc.
The Origins of Mining in New Jersey and Copper Mining in Bridgewater
In the early 18th Century, the discovery of copper on Arent Schuyler’s property in modern day Bergen County, led to a wide effort across the New Jersey colony to search for more metal via mining. The northern valleys of New Jersey became known mainly for its mining and lumbering industries, as most of the soil was poorer than in the southern valleys. The ridge slopes of Bound Brook, Somerville, and the Watching mountains were one of these areas carefully combed for valuable metals. By 1754, 1,900 LBS of different metals were found in Somerset County alone. The largest single deposit was estimated at 128 LBS.
The locality of what was to become the American/Bridgewater mining company had exploratory drifts that drilled 100 feet, but originally produced no substantial copper. When George Washington’s troops were encamped in New Jersey during the Revolution, strenuous efforts were made to extract copper from the sandstone beneath the first Watchung Mountain. These efforts were for the purpose of constructing brass artillery. With this initiative, the Bridgewater/American mining site successfully extracted enough copper to construct a cannon. The cannon was reportedly used during the Siege of Yorktown in 1781.
However, the success of the Bridgewater/American mining site would encounter its first of many short lived triumphs. The site was not reported to have been actively prospected after the copper for the cannon was acquired. In fact, no mining was reported in the locale from 1781-1824. An 1812 report describing the site as “abandoned.”
The Founding of the Bridgewater and Washington Mining Companies
The site was re-invigorated by a German immigrant named Augustus Camman. In 1824, Camman erected a small smelter in Chimney Rock and a second small smelter at the foot of the first Watching mountain. The second smelter, he called the Bridgewater Mining Company. Previous mining efforts in the locale where essentially hurried efforts for the sake of the Revolution. However, Camman created an extremely well organized company with prominent investments. Camman hired the likeness of successful businessman Goold Hoyt as a main investor and according to the 1825 charter, the co-chair of the company. Hoyt was a merchant and owner of ships who found success in trade with East India Companies and trade ventures in China during the early 19th century. The aforementioned 1825 charter, laid out an extremely well organized operation. This included a board of directors, a lengthy explanation of duties for each position within the company, by laws, and approval from the New Jersey House of Assembly. Additionally, the share of the stock for the Bridgewater Mining Company was set at $500 dollars a share. This is equivalent to over $15,000 in 2023.
Goold Hoyt, Co-Chair of the 1825 Bridgewater Mining Company
The Bridgewater Mining Company’s extensive organization and investments were unfortunately all for naught. The volume of ore mined was very minimal, leading to the closure of the mine in 1830.
Five years later, Albert Camman, the son of Bridgewater Mining Company founder Augustus, organized the Washington Mining company in 1835. Camman was joined by Peter Stryker, the Vice President of the Somerset County Chamber. Stryker had been one of the government officials that approved the business and by-laws of the original Bridgewater Mining Company. Albert Camman purchased an additional 150 acres of land adjacent to the original land of his father’s mines. The newly dubbed Washington Mining Company was more successful, having a small, but sustainable volume of copper ore. The ore was hand trimmed and shipped to Boston for smelting. Albert Camman would actually sell the mine to these Boston interests several years after opening the company. The Washington Mining Company’s met its demise for a different reason than that of the Bridgewater Mining Company. Flooding became a consistent serious problem. The volume of flooding was too much to be removed by the mine’s crude pumps. The Washington Mining Company closed in 1844.
Digging Deeper and Growing Larger with the Newly Named American Copper Company
Alas, this efficient endeavor of copper mining also ended in its closure. The Bridgewater/Washington Mining Company’s mines were supposedly destroyed during the Civil War. Copper mining was still prevalent in Somerset County, but now directed elsewhere in the Watchung Mountain range. For several decades these mines were once again closed and seemingly forgotten.
The Bridgewater mines once again got a lease on life in 1880, with the founding of the newly named American Copper Company. The company mined the area along the Bridgewater mountain site, but also on woodlots of farmers that faced ridges between Bound Brook and Somerville. The new company extended its operations from about 200 to 600 feet into the mountains. Despite, the deeper diggings, no substantial amounts of ore was found and the company ceased operations in 1883. However, the end of the operation didn’t mean the end of the mines this time. Exploratory mining efforts carried out for the remainder of the century. The continuation of digging inspired the American Copper Company to reform again in 1898. With a newfound energy, a number of new tunnels were created with a smaller and more concentrated plant.
The new and improved American Copper Company put all investment into its modernization. The mine was completely overhauled, cleaned and extended to an additional 650 feet, totaling 1,350 feet. Numerous side drifts were cut at levels, where they were expanded into rooms and chambers common in coal mining. Thick basalt flow and an undercut ore-bed beneath the basalt flow made mining operations relatively simple. In 1901, President J.C. Reiff and General Manager Josiah Bond, erected a new experimental smelter made with 20 tons brick and a steel jacketed plant for testing. Additionally, surface equipment was enlarged and modernized. The mine was initially a massive success. Several thousand tons of crude oil were reported to be mined. The experimental smelter is credited with extracting several hundred tons of crude oil. Specimens of the copper ore mined were put on display at the 1901 World’s Fair in Buffalo.
Within a few years, the American Copper Company would endure an all too familiar fate. After 1901, shafts deepened and more ore was speedily moved through the crusher. The ore was soon depleted and operations moved progressively slower. By 1905, all operations ceased and shortly afterwards the company once again went out of business.
One Last Attempt, the Technologically Advanced Alpha Copper Company.
Despite repeated failures the Bridgewater mine site reopened in 1908 as the newly dubbed Alpha Copper Company. The ACC featured new innovative electric machinery, once again creating a reinvigorating overhaul of operations. The new machinery allowed for over 1,000 additional feet of excavations, 2,400 feet in total. The new electrical machinery allowed 10-12 tons of crushed ore to be refined with as much as 60% copper for use. Production had been decent in 1908 and 1909, but the mine was shutdown in December, 1909. The company technically suspended operations, hoping for a renewal, as the property was up-kept for several months. It was most likely that the ACC (along with the other mining companies) took on too much capital and the mines themselves had very little resources in return. The mines closed for good in the Spring of 1910. The smelter, mill, and other buildings were dismantled. The tunnels were filled with water and the mine entrance was sealed up. As Somerset County climbed to the top in the state in stone and concrete production, copper mining in the area never returned.
The Legacy of the Bridgewater Copper Mining Site
While the physical companies didn’t survive, the stories, artifacts, and achievements are more than enough to cement it as important to Bridgewater, New Jersey’s history. To summarize a few contributions these mines: built a cannon used at Yorktown, attracted the interest of world renowned businessmen, and was represented at a World’s Fair. In the final year of the mine’s operation, the size of the underground workings made this Bridgewater mine the second most extensive copper mine in the state. While work was repeatedly abandoned, it should also be appreciated that new operations were repeatedly attempted for over a hundred years. As recent as 1944, there was a report within the New Jersey Department of Conservation and Development’s “Copper Mines and Mining in New Jersey,” mentioning that there is feasibility of reopening these Bridgewater mines with success. Today, the site of the Bridgewater/American Mining Company is unaccessible to the public. It sits in the woods between residences in a large neighborhood. However, within the last twenty years or so, photographer’s and stone collectors have had permission to take photos and gather stones that remain on the surface. While closed, buried, and hard to find, the Bridgewater/American Mining Company will always be a vital part to the history of Bridgewater, New Jersey.
Modern look at the site of Bridgewater/Washington/American/Alpha Copper Company in Bridgewater, New Jersey. (Credit: David Bernstein)
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