A series of Pb-Ag mines straddling the borders of Schuylkill and Charlestown Townships, along Pickering Creek, approximately 2 miles SSW of Phoenixville. Reportedly first discovered in the late 1600's, mining in the district did not begin in earnest until around 1850. Mines include the Wheatley, Chester County, Brookdale, Charleston, Montgomery County, Phoenix and Napoleon Mines, including various named secondary workings, which were operated sporadically until 1920.
Note: sadly, many mineral specimens collected from this district, and especially those collected in the 19th century during the mines operation, have locality attributions listed as simply "Phoenixville". Although the Wheatley mine was the most prolific of these mines, and likely produced the majority of specimens now in collections (Charles Wheatley himself was a great mineral enthusiast, with a cabinet of over 6,000 specimens from his mines), Other mine sites, especially The Chester County Mine, were also quite prolific, and many specimens labled without specific mine site attibutions have since been inappropriately attributed to the more famous Wheatley mine. As such, most "Wheatley" specimens should be considered "district" specimens, unless otherwise noted as "definitively" eminating from the either the Wheatley mine (original 19th C. label) or it's old dump site (original 20th C. label).
References
Sloto, R.A. (1989). "Famous mineral localities: The Phoenixville, Lead silver mines, Chester County, Pennsylvania." Mineralogical Record: 20(5): 369-386.
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