Soapstone was discovered here by Daniel Fuller in 1794 while plowing his field (Jackson, 1844), and first worked in the early nineteenth century, possibly in one of these years: 1802 (Jackson, 1844); 1804 (Farmer and Moore, 1823; Carter, 1831) or 1808 (Cochrane and Wood, 1895). The deposit is in talc-phlogopite-actinolite schist and talc-phlogopite schist. The Francestown Soapstone Company was incorporated on June 22, 1865. The quarry closed in 1891.
"Dr. Charles T. Jackson, the distinguished geologist, testifying as an expert in a law case said: 'The Francestown stone, for color, beauty, and evenness, surpasses all other soapstone known.'"(Cochrane and Wood, 1895).
Mineral List
11 entries listed. 7 valid minerals.
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References
Cleaveland, Parker (1816): An Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology, (Boston: Cummings and Hilliard), p. 352.
Farmer, John and Moore, Jacob B. (1823): A Gazetteer of the State of New-Hampshire (Concord, NH: Jacob B. Moore), p. 19.
Carter, James Gordon (1831): A Geography of New-Hampshire (Portsmouth, NH: Nathaniel March)
Jackson, Charles T. (1844): Final Report on the Geology and Mineralogy of the State of New Hampshire. p. 86.
Merrill, George P. (1889): The Collection of Building and Ornamental Stones in the U.S. National Museum, p. 563.
Cochrane, Warren and Wood, George K. (1895): History of Francstown, N.H.
Bertram, G. M. (1907): Soapstone. Mine and Quarry, vol. 2 no. 2. (August, 1907)
Greene, R. C. (1970): The Geology of the Peterborough Quadrangle New Hampshire.
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