Lancaster’s Forgotten Dental Gold Rush

Unusual Tale of Lancaster County’s Past

Did you know that Lancaster County once played an unexpected role in early American dentistry?

Before modern dentures and high-tech plastics, dentists at the turn of the 20th century had to get creative. One surprising challenge was coloring dental plates. To achieve the deep reddish tone considered desirable at the time, they needed a mineral that wouldn’t break down under chemical treatment.

Fortunately for Lancaster-area dentists, the perfect ingredient was practically in their backyard.

The mineral—nicknamed “money stone”—could be found on the eastern edge of Lancaster County near Atglen, across the county line. It contained titanium, which gave dental plates their durable red tint. Because nothing else worked as well, dentists were willing to pay for it. Local hunters scoured the hills for the valuable stone, selling it for 8 to 10 cents an ounce, with particularly rich chunks fetching up to $22 (approximately $848 today), a tidy sum for the era.

The rush continued until large deposits of similar titanium-rich material were discovered in South America, where it could be mined far more cheaply. Overnight, Lancaster County’s “money stone” lost its value, becoming another curious footnote in the region’s history.

This unusual tale from Lancaster County’s past comes from the December 1955 issue of Lancaster magazine and Brett Snyder‘s archives at PastPaper.com.

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Resources

• Lancaster Magazine – December 1955

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