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The Heritage of Mining in Western Kentucky
Crittenden County is believed to be the first place in Kentucky where the mineral fluorspar was mined. The region, which includes the Kentucky counties of Crittenden, Livingston, Caldwell, and Trigg, was mined prior to the Civil War, peaked in about 1937 and the industry finally died in the early 1950's due to foreign competition. Fluorspar is used primarily as a flux in the steel-making industry and to a lesser extent in the production of hydrochloric acid.
Because of the proliferation of spar mining in our county, two very prominent businessmen have left legacies to the community. Julius Fohs built and presented to the community a Civic Center and Community Auditorium. Constructed in 1926, the building was renovated in 1980 and is currently being used as an arts and community center. [LINK]
Ben E. Clement left an outstanding, one-of-a-kind collection of minerals, period journals, photographs, mining tools and other items. The collection has been visited by various authorities on minerals and is believed to be one of the finest in existence.
The Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum, Inc. was formed in June 1990 to renovate a vacant elementary school building adjacent to Fohs Hall, operate a mineral museum containing the Ben E. Clement collection, and to take other necessary first steps toward making the attraction something that would generate outside interest, thus enhancing the economy of Marion and Crittenden County.
Regional History:
In the predawn of history, migrating Indians discovered the soft, colorful deposits of fluorite in the forests of what is today the Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky Fluorspar Region. Using stone-age technology, they were the first to fashion ornaments and carvings from the mineral. Unknown to them were the secrets of the substance that in the years to come would give rise to a global industry.
The historic Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky Fluorspar Region is divided by the Ohio River into two districts. To the north the ore deposits are mainly found around the communities of Rosiclare, Elizabethtown, and Cave in Rock, in Hardin and Pope Counties, Illinois; it was in Shawneetown in 1818 that the first recorded discovery of fluorite was made.
To the south the ore deposits are found in Caldwell, Livingston, and Crittenden Counties, Kentucky, and are centered primarily around the city of Marion. It was near Marion in 1835 that President Andrew Jackson opened his mine.
Between 1900 and 1950 the use of fluorite in steel, aluminum, chemicals, glass, and nuclear processes gave birth to hundreds of mines that supplied, by river and rail, over 40 percent of the world's needs.
After 1950 a tremendous influx of inexpensive foreign fluorspar sharply curtailed domestic production in subsequent years the progressive loss of the steel, aluminum, and chemical markets to overseas firms put to rest an industry that had vigorously led the world in production.
The Mineral Collection:
The Clement Mineral Collection is comprised of specimens of exquisite beauty from throughout the world. Thousands of these minerals are from the mines of the famous Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky Fluorspar Region.
The mineral specimens range in size from a fraction of an ounce to hundreds of pounds. Each specimen is a "rare accidental find" from among the regular ore bodies. Each vein of each mine produced unique specimens in various ways.
The museum also houses an extensive display of the coal plant fossil Lepidodendron and petrified wood. A massive collection of fluorescent specimens beneath ultraviolet lights dazzles the eye. There are two collections of gemstone carvings one consists of more than 40 carvings and 80 faceted fluorite pieces of all colors by a German family dynasty; the other collection was carved by Squire Riley, a night watchman, during the early years of this century.
The Clement Mineral Collection is a world-class collection of more than 60 years that can never be duplicated again.
The Equipment Collection:
The Clement Equipment Collection chronicles the men and the companies who produced the machines to meet the exacting demands of a global industry. It consists of fluorspar mining and milling artifacts manufactured prior to 1950. the collection preserves and displays equipment ranging in size from the flints of carbide mining lamps to a 12,000-pound steam engine and a 9-foot-wide flywheel that powered a mill.
The Equipment Collection contains kerosene engines, ore buckets, and push carts on rails. Also included are early ultraviolet lights, Geiger counters, ore and stone crushers, drills, blacksmithing forges, hoists, and many items of personal equipment belonging to the miners. In addition to industrially manufactured equipment, the collection contains many items that were handmade by local craftsmen during the Depression.
The Document Collection:
The Clement Document Collection contains information related to the fluorite mining industry, such as mining blueprints, maps, contracts, opinions, abstracts, books, articles, ledgers, ore essays, leases, and stock certificates, as well as letters of correspondence of mine owners, suppliers, geologists, surveyors, authors, bankers, and promoters. Receipts and checks, photographs and slides, and video and audio tapes of miners, drillers, and operators are also included.
The Document Collection systematically lists the location, geology, and history of local mining operations. Where possible, it includes samples of the mineral specimens the mines produced and the current status of the mines.
The Photograph Collections:
The Clement Photograph Collection contains hundreds of pictures of mine operations from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. More than a dozen of the photographs were used by the Illinois and Kentucky Geological Surveys to illustrate their publications.
These glimpses into the past capture both the one-man prospect mines that at one time dotted the countryside, as well as the giant operations of Alcoa, Inland Steel, Ozark Mahoning, and United States Steel. Some photos reveal extraordinary architectural design, such as the wooden skyscraper of the Cullen Mine Mill.
The pictures detail the enormous effort expended in locating the ore, drilling the test sites, constructing the head frames, sinking the shafts, pulling the hoists, and building the mills, all the while battling the inherent dangers of equipment, ground water, and the blasting of earth, rock and ore.
The ravages of winter, with swollen rivers, flooded towns, mills, and mines, are shown. This historic collection also depicts the hardships of traveling the major highways of the day; model A's and T's and mule teams with loaded wagons are shown mired to their axles. The construction of the new roads of 1926 and 1927, using the equipment and rock of the local mines, is chronicled.
Sept. 6, 1891 - January 31, 1980Ben Clement graduated from Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1915 with a Bachelor of Science degree. After World War I, in which he was trained as an aviator, he was drawn to western Kentucky by an interest in the fledgling fluorspar industry which was centered in Crittenden County. He served as head of the science department at Henderson High School from 1920 - 1922 before organizing the Alpine, Holly, Davenport, and National Fluorspar Companies from 1925 to 1950.
In 1928 he obtained a government contract to grade and gravel Highway 60 between Marion and Salem, and Highway 297 to Sheridan. This was the first major work done on the roads since the trees had been cleared for wagon trails.
During World War II, Mr. Clement served as a member of the President's Tariff Commission and on the War Production Board. His knowledge and experience served him well in Washington because of the importance of fluorspar in the manufacture of steel and atomic weapons.Mr. Clement was a member of several professional and civic organizations and an active member of the Marion Methodist Church, where he served as Chairman of the board from 1948 - 1950. He was married to the former Edith Vaughan Lewis of Louisville, Kentucky, and had two daughters and a son. The author of numerous publications, he was often asked to guest lecture to university groups and civic and church organizations.
The Vision:
In his biography, Ben Clement related that he was born on a farm in rural Tennessee and was inspired by a man who gave him a telescope and a book on astronomy. His uncle, the reverend Andres Clement, recognized in his young nephew an eagerness to learn, and took him into his Nashville, Tennessee, home to nurture hime in faith, science, and history as he attended college preparatory school.
In his twenties, Ben Clement became acutely aware that he and his contemporaries in the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar Region were making history. From 1920 until his death in 1980, Mr. Clement accumulated what has become known as one of the largest and finest collections of mineral specimens in the world. He collected and preserved finds of geologic and historic significance, and as his reputation grew, throngs of professors, students, and even chartered busloads of tourists from around the world came to his home to see his collection.It was during these years that he envisioned a great museum that would be a joint effort of local citizenry, universities, and industry. This museum would tell the unfolding story of the atom and the universe. It would be a place where one could see and feel the geologic and historic record. He envisioned a place where the general public, the educator, and the student alike could come to look and learn, a place where universities and corporations could have exhibits that would inform and inspire young minds to probe the mysteries of both the heavens and the earth.
The story is far from finished!
