Thomas Edison in a Machine Shop at His Ore-Concentrating Works in Ogdensburg, New Jersey, 1897

Summary

During the 1890s, Thomas Edison launched a New Jersey mining operation to address an iron ore shortage. He designed rock-crushing technology and an electromagnetic ore separator to extract low-grade ore from crushed boulders. The final product -- a briquette made of powdered iron ore -- didn't do well commercially, especially after high-grade ore was discovered around Lake Superior. In 1899, Edison left the industry.

During the 1890s, Thomas Edison launched a New Jersey mining operation to address an iron ore shortage. He designed rock-crushing technology and an electromagnetic ore separator to extract low-grade ore from crushed boulders. The final product -- a briquette made of powdered iron ore -- didn't do well commercially, especially after high-grade ore was discovered around Lake Superior. In 1899, Edison left the industry.

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

1897

Creators

Underhill, Irving, d. 1960 

Place of Creation

United States, New York 

Creator Notes

Originally photographed by Irving Underhill, New York. This copy photograph by Ford Motor Company Engineering Photographic Department, 1929.

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1630.P.188.1349

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Linen (Material)
Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 7.5 in

Width: 11 in

Inscriptions

on front: THOMAS A EDISON / Copyright 1905 By / IRVING UNDERHILL, New York / B 7065 Handprinted in pencil on back side: Edison in his ore-concentrating works at / Edison, Sussex County, New Jersey. 1897 / {from Exhibit label} Handwritten under linen: 1349 / R / Edison book

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