November 4, 2013 / Joanne Yeck

Buckingham Gold: Alcinda Mine

Shaft mining in central Virginia, c. 1865 (Harper’s New Monthly Magazine)

On July 14, 1838, a letter to the Editor ran in the Washington D.C. newspaper, Madisonian, for the Country. It was in response to “extracts from the New York Gazette, on the subject of Gold Mines in Virginia.” The letter discusses several Buckingham County gold mines which were active in 1838 and was signed, simply, BUCKINGHAM.

I trust, sir, that it was not your intention to turn this subject to political account. Sure, I am, you could have had no such purpose in mentioning the employment of foreign capital in our mines…. Of the balance of the gold region I shall not speak, nor of any mines which I have not visited, except that from the information of others, I may safely remark, that if Buckingham does not contain the very best mines in this country, they are certainly not inferior to any.

The following mines I have seen . . . The Morton; the Booker; the Alcinda, or Eldridge; the Ford and Nicholas, and the Ayres….

The Alcinda mine has been opened by the sinking of two shafts, probably fifty feet deep. The vein is the largest I have seen, and is said to be the largest known in this county. The ores yield well, though not so much, perhaps, to the given quality, as those of the Booker. They are easy of access and may be raised in any quantity required, at a smaller expense than is common in small veins. . . Like that of Morton’s, a small creek affords the only motive power applied in crushing the ores.

To be continued….