A Secret Place, A Magic Stone, An Historic Burial Ground

An Historic Site Built Upon A Sacred Site To Protect An Ancient Secret

This hallowed area is mostly overlooked today, nestled closely by neighboring homes in a residential community, just off of a heavily trafficked main road. It was once, however, a robust site, and the center of a colonial iron mining operation in the 1700s that produced muskets and cannons. Earlier than that, it was considered a sacred place by the Native Americans who inhabited the area at various times. It is now home to the remains of Freemasons who built a cemetery there after the American War for Independence.

This cemetery is technically on private land, so I won't disclose the location out of respect to the land owners, who maintain it as a public park and historic site. Nor will I name the stone that exists there, since that would easily identify the location. The stones used to build the pictured tombs, and the walls that line this cemetery were formed during the end of the Ice Age, when Glaciers passing through this valley fused elements of the soil into the hard, rocky foundation beneath it, causing a thermal fusion of a rare titanium deposit into hematite, a common and highly ferrous stone that was abundant beneath the titanium. The end result is an outcrop of a bluish stones with speckles of white titanium throughout them. Oftentimes, a great deal of rust is present on the outside of the stones due to the high iron composition.

When American colonists began to claim the land that the Native Americans had already been living on, they found that this one particular hill was considered sacred by the original locals; likely due to the high amounts of metal and magnetization in the area, and also because the large deposit of iron atop a tall hill has attracted countless lightning bolts over the millenia. The stones were considered to have magical properties that could be bestowed upon those who handled them. However, speculation involving rare minerals became the chief concern for the colonists after they found the large deposits of iron, quartz, and other minerals springing from the ground. Mining operations began to look for gold and diamonds, none of which were found, but the iron that was unearthed was used for all manner of common household items the settlers found useful. When the war with England began, the Freemason custodians of the mine began manufacturing cannon and muskets from the abundant iron. The quality of the steel was lacking, though, because of the the amount of titanium present in the iron ore, and the difficulty they had (at that particular time) separating the materials. After the cannon proved unworthy in battle, they continued producing cannonballs until the war ended.

The iron mine continued on for some time after the formation of the United States, but eventually it was abandoned. The cemetery that now lies at the foot of the hill, built by the family that owned the mine, protects the area from any further industrial activity. They were accounted to be famous Freemasons in their day, and the graves of the cemetery are said to be the eternal rest for the brethren of their society. Whatever the motives were for abandoning mining operations, and creating a sacred burial ground upon an already sacred space, the custodians of this place have preserved a small piece of what was once a holy place for a forgotten people.