Into the Mines

Sitting on a bench at the Iron Center Museum, Archie Rosenquist eagerly awaits those who travel to Port Henry to learn more about a past that was carved out thousands of feet below the buildings and roadways here. The story of iron in the Moriah area dates back to the 19th century, when iron ore beds were first worked. The Cheever Mine, located just north of the Port Henry hamlet, started to be an economic driver in the 1850s, attracting many to set up shop in the region. Names like Witherbee, Sherman Company and Republic Steel became the pillars of the community through the 19th and into the late 20th centuries. In the mines Rosenquist came into the community of miners with his family. "I was a mining camp merchant coming from Colorado," he said. "My father came here for work and I ended up working in the mines from 1951 until 1968." Archie was a third generation miner, with his grandfather having a working gold mine in the backyard of his house. "My dad followed him and worked in the mines," he said. "I didn't have a lot of playmates when I was young so I hung around with my dad in the mines and would work with him." Archie, who would later become a industrial safety officer, then added, "I think OSHA would have had a fit if they had been around back then and seen me down there." However, the experience paid off for Rosenquist, as he was hired on to a job which was "one of the best around." "In 1951, I would make 90 cents an hour as a laborer," said the miner who eventually made his way up the line to repairman, hoistman and eventually an assistant mining engineer. "It was like any other factory job, to me," Rosenquist said. "You came to work, clocked in for your shift and went through your day. Shifts were 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Sometimes you would work a shift—and—a—half and other times a double." The main difference with this factory job, however, was the plant was located well underground. "For B shaft, you would go down 4,000 feet, walk 1,500 feet and go down some more," Rosenquist remembered. "The mines would start around 1,300—to—1,400 feet above lake level and go down to the bottom level, which was 2,450 feet lower than lake level — not under the lake, they just used lake level as a measurement instead of sea level." Like any career, Rosenquist said mining was a "way of life" for those in Mineville and Witherbee, which were populated almost entirely by miners and their families. He added it did not take long to find out who would make it in the business. "New employees would come in, go down for a day or two, and you would never see them again," he said. "If you were at all claustrophobic, you were not going to make it. For me, I wouldn't hesitate to go back into the mines." In 1968, his final year working the mines, Rosenquist said he was involved in discussions about bringing new systems into the mine. "They were trying to justify a new system and they elected not to do it," he said."That's when I decided I needed to find a career with a little more future to it." The end Rosenquist said shutdowns and employee strikes were a regular part of the business, leading to work stoppages from time to time. Many people saw the work stoppage in 1971 as part of the process, with workers leaving their boots and clothes in their lockers, heading home to wait for the call back. "There were always strikes, layoffs and times when the mines would close down for economic reasons," he said. "I thought this was just another shutdown." Instead, Republic Steel would never return. "It really went donwhill from there," Rosenquist said. "We had a viable community with five or six grocery stores and 17 bars and taverns all around. Rosenquist's work in construction and industrial safety took him across the country for numerous years before settling back down in the region. "I married a Port Henry girl," he said. "I like the west, but I missed the change of seasons and the Adirondack environment." An infamous moment After the mine shut down, Rosenquist said there would be "old wives tales," of people who would go exploring and never return. However, a major criminal in North Country history used the mines as a graveyard. During the trial of Robert Garrow in 1974 for the murder of Phillip Domblewski, defense attorneys evoked attorney—client privilege, not giving prosecutors the location of another one of Garrow's victims, Susan Petz, in exchange for a plea deal. Garrow later pleaded guilty to the deaths of Petz, Donald Porter and Alicia Hauck, after Petz's body was found in one of the mine shafts in Mineville. The New York Times reported on the admission by attorney Francis Belge to knowing the whereabouts of Petz in 1974. According to the report, Garrow told Belge about raping and killing her in an abandoned mine shaft a few weeks after he was shot and captured by law enforcement. About three weeks later, Belge went to the shaft and found the body. According to a quote from the New York Times: "We passed the shaft 10 times before I found it with a flashlight at twilight," Mr. Belge said. "Frank (Armani, another member of the Garrow defense team) lowered me into the shaft by my feet and I took pictures." However, it was not until four months later the body was reported to police by two children who had been playing in the mine. Belge also received a visit from Petz's father. "I spent many, many sleepless nights over my inability to reveal the information, especially after Mr. Petz came in from Chicago and talked to me," Belge told the Times. A new future A vision for the former mines, created in 1990, is one hurdle away from becoming a reality, bringing new life to the pits and underground tunnels that put Mineville on the map. James Besha, Sr., President of Albany Engineering Corp., presented to the public a plan for the Mineville Pumped Storage Energy Project at Moriah Central School April 8. "It will be a go, the question is when," Besha said about the final federal permit the company submitted recently. "It is highly unlikely this would be a no-go. The regulatory process is long and it could take anywhere from six months to a number of years. I am expecting it will take a year to see the final license be issued. We have been patient to this point and we will continue to be patient." Besha has been exercising his patience since 1990, when he first approached Moriah Supervisor Tom Scozzafava about the potential project. "When we first talked about this, I have to be frank, I thought he was nuts," Scozzafava said. "But it was a dream he hung onto and spent a lot of money on, and now it is becoming a reality." For Scozzafava's part, the chief administrator of the town pointed to the economic benefits for the municipality. "The town and the school will benefit with a substantial increase in the tax base," he said. Currently, the assessed property value of the town comes in around $205 million. Besha said the proposed energy project would be assessed at $265 million, more than doubling the current overall value. "We have had no lack of private entities who have wanted to help on this," he said. "Federal or state grants will not be expected, applied for or desired. We do not want them. If you ask for help and the help does not come through, then you are done." "It's the real thing that really excites me," Scozzafava said. "It is not dependent on any type of government funding and will all be done through private funding." Along with a boost to the tax base, Besha's company will also be providing several infrastructure improvements, including renovating Linney Field, water district expansions, and the creation of a new building which, once used as a construction hub for the project, will be given to the town for use as a highway garage. The Mineville Pumped Storage Energy Project will involve moving water between levels within the 2,500-feet deep mines, using the Don B and Harmony Mines. Water will be pumped to an upper level reservoir, using surplus energy, while creating energy when sent into the lower reservoir through power turbines.

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