Slate Industry in North America
The slate industry in the United States is concentrated in the Taconic Mountains region of Vermont and New York, known as the Slate Valley (the district of Granville, New York is well known for its slate). Slate was first quarried in 1839 at Fair Haven, Vermont. An influx of immigrants from the North Wales slate quarrying communities saw a boom in slate production that peaked in the latter half of the 19th century. The slate of the region comes in a variety of colors, notably green, gray, black and red. Some production continued in 2003 with 23 operating full-time mines employing 348 people.
Additionally, one of the oldest quarries in America continues to quarry slate in Buckingham County, Virginia. Their trademark Buckingham Slate has been continually quarried since the 18th century and has a distinct, unfading blue/black color and Mica sheen. Buckingham Slate is used on many Federal buildings in the Washington, D.C. area.
Large scale slate quarrying also took place around the town of Monson, Maine where an extensive series of quarries flourished from the 1860s onwards. A small scale quarrying and dressing operation continues in Monson into the 21st century.
Slate is also found in the Arctic and was used by the Inuit to make the blades for ulus.
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