Pennsylvania's Pequea Silver Mines

Lancaster County’s Hub of Geological History and Modern Recreation

- JORDAN D. MARCHÉ II

Roughly a century and a half ago, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania operated some of the most important metal-producing mines in the eastern U.S. Ore deposits containing nickel, chromium, and silver-enriched lead (argentiferous galena or lead sulfide) were extracted from three widely dispersed sites: the Gap Nickel Mine (on the eastern side of the county); Wood’s Chrome Mine (along the southern border of the county and state); and the Pequea Silver Mines (located about seven miles south of downtown Lancaster), respectively. Documentary evidence supports the occurrence of mining activity at Pequea by at least 1709, making it perhaps the nation’s oldest mining site that dates from Colonial times. But early colonists had learned of the presence of lead ore from Native Americans, who might have worked the site during the previous century.

Today, however, little remains in place at these formerly extensive mining sites. While rather detailed histories have been published concerning the first two mines mentioned above, the same cannot be said regarding the third. Nonetheless, the former site of the Pequea (pronounced “peck-way”) Silver Mines was turned into a public (i.e., township) park in the late 20th century. Also, a self-guided, geological walking tour was established that enables visitors to view the mines’ principal entrance portal and also study the surrounding geology. The public can discover for themselves what dramatic changes this landscape experienced in the distant past.