Many times, as I have traveled I-26 into Charleston SC, I would pass the sign " Ashley Phosphate Road" an give maybe 2 seconds thought to wondering what that was all about. Through no intent of my own I finally stumbled into the answer and hope my blog to follow may save my reader the burden of a life of wondering about this important issue.
In 1867, with the discovery of phosphate deposits in the Edisto Marl, the state of South Carolina began to issue licenses to mining companies to extract the phosphate rock formations located beneath the flat overburden near the sea island rivers in the Edisto area.
The state required a dollar per ton royalty for river mining and no royalty for land mining.
This material was highly prized for fertilizer with crops in different regions of the country. Cotton in the south, fruits and vegtables in the east and grain crops in the west all benefitted from its use.
Mining was economical to 10' of depth and this resource was critical to the areas recovery after the Civil War.
There were at least 36 companies involved in mining in the low country, with 5 companies in the sea island area providing "convenient" work to those living on Edisto Island. Convenient meaning using the Steamboat Landing, with a Monday Friday trip on the "Mary Draper" and camping out at the mines.
Five of the closest mines were:
Bradleys Phosphate Mine on Rantowles Creek
St. Andrews Mining Company on Stono River
Bolton Phosphate Mine on Stono Creek
Pon Pon Phosphate Mine on the Pon Pon River
Linstedt Mine on Rantowles Creek
The mines attracted rough men to do the rough work. There were Irish, German, former slaves now freed, contracted convicts from the state penal system and gamblers attempting to harvest money from the work of the miners.
These men worked in pairs in 6' x 12' pits, loading small guage rail cars with busted rock. They produced 200,000- 500,000 tons of phosphate a year in the 1880s. Two thirds of which was exported to Europe.
The work was hard, the times were hard but the pay was the best around; they did what they had to do.
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