Messrs. Heaton and Mahaffey have completed the installation of machinery on the Hitchcock property just across the Hiawassee River and are now operating one of the largest iron ore mines in the entire Cherokee field. Machinery and equipment, including a washing plant capable of washing 200 tons of ore daily, has been installed and the ore is now being loaded and shipped to ?? furnaces in Tennessee and Virginia. The local company will employ 20 or 30 men and ship three or four cars of washed ore per day.
The deposit was worked some during the war but has been standing for the past two years until about three or four months ago when the present operators obtained lease and began to install new equipment. It is on a tract of land of 1,800 acres, the larger part located almost in Murphy. The tract was formerly owned by Mrs. Cort of Paris France, and was acquired by Dr. Westray Battle, W.N. Gareettm, L.M. Bourne, Dr. J.A. Sinclair and W.S. Whiting of Asheville. It is known locally as the Hitchcock property.
A vein of ore one quarter of a mile in length, 100 feet wide and the depth undetermined, is known ?? on the property and is part of this vein that is now being worked.
The opening of this valuable ore deposit marks another one of the developments of nature’s products, which is attracting business interests to this section. It also means the providing of employment for a number and the expenditure of a considerable sum of money in this community.
From the front page of The Cherokee Scout, Murphy, N.C. Feb. 9, 1923
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