Phoenixville Mining District, Schuylkill Township, Chester Co., Pennsylvania, USA

A series of Lead silver mines Stradeling the borders of Schuylkill and Charlestown Township along Pickering Creek, aprox. 2 mi. S. S.W. 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 an great mineral enthusiast, with a cabinet of over 6000 specimens from his mines), Other mine sites, especilally The Chester County Mine, were also quite prolific, and many specimens labled without specific mine site attibutions have since been inapropriately 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).

Ref.:
- Sloto, R.A. (1989). "Famous mineral localities: The Phoenixville, Lead silver mines, Chester County, Pennsylvania." Mineralogical Record, 20(5),pp:369-386.