 |
Tom Cowart Pyrite Prospect Rabun County, GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2025) |
|
Tom Cowart Pyrite Prospect Rabun County, GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2025) |
| "There is a pyrite and copper prospect east of Tom Coward Gap in the Blue Ridge. The land now (in a 1918 report) is owned by J. Miles Berrong and A. L. England. The locality is very inaccessible, and building a railroad or even a good wagon road to Clayton or other point on the Tallulah Falls Railroad would be extremely difficult and expensive. At the top of the ridge is a shaft, dug before the Civil War, said to have been 60 feet deep. The deposit might be workable if situated close to transportation, but on account of the unfavorable location, it would hardly be worthwhile to do more prospecting at present." |
|
 |
|
| I had to cross the AT at Cowart Gap to reach the prospect. |
|
 |
|
| The mine shaft, much filled in after 170 years. |
|
 |
|
| Shaft from another viewpoint; not quite 20 feet deep now. |
|
 |
|
| One of several trench cuts surrounding the shaft. There was once a tunnel below the shaft, but it was already caved in 1918, and only a waste pile remains below it. |
|
 |
|
| This was unusual... In the middle of nowhere I came across this small section of a stone faced terrace. There may have been an old homesite here. |
|
 |
|
| I passed several little cascades on my way to and from the pyrite mine. |
|
 |
|
| Cascades |
|
 |
|
| Fire ring next to the creek... |
|
 |
|
| Along the way... I hadn't been by this remote cabin in probably 5-6 years. Was somewhat surprised to see it still standing. It's on a small private inholding tract surrounded by USFS property. |
|
 |
|
| Cabin exterior |
|
 |
|
| Cabin interior |
|
 |
|
| Cabin interior |