“One reason aluminum was so costly [in 1884] was because it was essential to use the highest purity aluminum oxide available, which happened to be corundum…. “The best crystals were being mined commercially in the gravels, stream beds, mountain sides and soils of the Carolinas, mostly in the Cowee River Valley of Macon County, North […]
Posts Tagged ‘washington monument’
Atop the Washington Monument, a pyramid from N.C.
Posted in Just A Bite, tagged aluminum, cape fear community college, corundum, nc mining, philip garwood, washington monument on May 12, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
Rejected leopardite couldn’t change its spots
Posted in On This Day, tagged charlotte nc, leopardite, mint museum, upping block, washington monument on October 9, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
On this day in 1888: The long-delayed Washington Monument opens to the public. Among the 193 carved memorial stones lining its inner walls is a block of leopardite — a rare, black-spotted granite — representing North Carolina. The stone is the second submitted from the Charlotte quarry; the first was rejected by the monument committee. […]
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