Wood’s Chrome Mine: The Lancaster County Mine That Helped Supply the World

There are places in Lancaster County whose history is easy to miss because almost nothing about them looks particularly historic anymore. No courthouse stands there. No famous building marks the spot. There may be little to suggest that anything unusual ever happened there at all. Wood’s Chrome Mine in Little Britain Township is one of those places.

Today, southern Lancaster County is a landscape of farms, woods, roads and scattered homes near the Maryland line. In the nineteenth century, however, this corner of Pennsylvania was part of an industry that reached far beyond the region. Beneath the ground lay chromite, the principal ore of chromium. For several decades, mines in southern Pennsylvania and northern Maryland supplied practically the entire world market for chromite, and Wood’s became the most important mine in the Pennsylvania portion of the district.

The scale of the operation is difficult to imagine from the rural landscape above it. Wood’s was being worked by the late 1820s, and by 1867 the mine had reportedly reached a depth of approximately 700 feet. A Pennsylvania geological report published in 1874 estimated that the mine had produced about 120,000 tons of chrome ore by that time. For a mine in rural Lancaster County, those are remarkable figures.

The story begins with the geology beneath the farmland, which is considerably stranger than the familiar landscape above it might suggest. Wood’s Mine was part of the State Line chromite district, a belt of unusual rock extending across the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. The district contains ultramafic rocks that were altered through geological processes into rock commonly described as serpentine. These rocks formed under conditions very different from those responsible for much of the surrounding landscape, and their mineral composition created favorable conditions for chromite deposits.

Chromite did not occur here as a uniform underground seam, like a layer of coal. Instead, it appeared in irregular bodies within the surrounding rock. Some deposits contained large masses of relatively rich ore, while others consisted of smaller concentrations scattered through the serpentine. The Wood deposit was exceptional. In a 1960 study of the region, the U.S. Geological Survey identified it as the largest deposit of massive chromite known in the United States. Its irregular shape, however, made extraction challenging. Miners had to follow concentrations of ore through surrounding rock rather than simply work along a consistent layer.

For the people who began exploiting the deposit in the early nineteenth century, the immediate question was not how the rocks had formed over geological time. It was how much valuable ore could be extracted from them. Chromium-bearing minerals had growing commercial importance during this period. Chromite was processed into chemical compounds used in pigments and dyes, among other applications. Historical accounts describe ore from the Pennsylvania-Maryland district being sent to Philadelphia for pigment manufacture and exported to England for use in the textile industry.

A mine in Little Britain Township was therefore connected to manufacturing and commerce far beyond Lancaster County. Its ore could become part of products made and sold across the Atlantic. The industry expanded rapidly after chromite deposits were developed in Maryland and Pennsylvania during the early nineteenth century. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, from approximately 1828 until 1860, the Pennsylvania-Maryland district was practically the world’s only source of chromite. That dominance made the region unusually important during the early development of the international chromium trade.

The Tyson Mining Company of Baltimore controlled major operations in the district, and Wood’s became its most important Pennsylvania mine. The surrounding countryside may have remained predominantly agricultural, but the mineral wealth underground connected it to a growing industrial economy. Mining the deposit required following its irregular body downward through the surrounding rock. By 1867, Wood’s had reportedly reached a depth of 700 feet. The work became increasingly difficult as miners pursued the richest concentrations of ore and dealt with changes in the shape and extent of the deposit.

Water posed another persistent problem. In 1868, Wood’s flooded, apparently because its pumping facilities were inadequate. The mine remained inactive until 1873, when work resumed. The interruption came at a difficult time for the eastern American chromite industry, as foreign competition was already putting pressure on prices. Before the flood, Wood’s reportedly produced as much as 400 to 500 tons of ore per month. By the period following the Civil War, output had fallen to approximately 400 to 500 tons per year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s historical account.

The decline was dramatic. A mine that had once produced hundreds of tons each month was now producing only a fraction of that amount over an entire year. The problem was not simply the difficulty of working an irregular ore body. The economics of the industry were changing, too. Turkish chromite began entering American markets at prices that undercut production from Pennsylvania and Maryland. The arrival of cheaper foreign ore helped shift control of the international supply away from the eastern United States. California also became a competing source during the late 1870s, further increasing the pressure on the older mines.

Wood’s nevertheless retained some value as a domestic reserve. The Tyson Mining Company kept the mine operating into the early 1880s as a backup against the difficulties associated with obtaining ore from distant sources. Even after losing its former commercial advantage, Wood’s could still be useful when other supplies were uncertain or expensive. The mine’s final years are described somewhat differently in historical accounts. Wendell E. Wilson’s detailed 2011 history gives its principal period of operation as approximately 1828 to 1881, when the main lode was exhausted. The U.S. Geological Survey records work from 1827 until 1882 and describes the mine’s later role as a reserve source. Taken together, these accounts place the end of its principal commercial life around 1880–1882.

Its decline cannot be attributed to a single cause. The condition of the ore body mattered, but so did flooding, falling prices, and competition from foreign deposits. By the time commercial operations ended, Wood’s had already secured a remarkable place in the history of American mining. The 120,000-ton estimate reported in the 1874 Pennsylvania geological report provides one measure of its importance. The report’s figures indicate that Wood’s production far exceeded that of the other Pennsylvania chromite localities included in the comparison. It was a major industrial operation at a time when the international chromium trade depended heavily on the mines of this region.

Yet Wood’s story did not end when commercial mining declined. In some respects, the mine became even more interesting to scientists and mineral collectors after its economic importance faded. The unusual geology that produced the chromite also created conditions in which other minerals formed. Wood’s became a celebrated mineral locality, particularly for its exceptional brucite specimens. Brucite is a magnesium hydroxide mineral, and specimens from Wood’s were renowned for their quality. Wilson’s 2011 history describes crystals produced during the 1860s as among the finest examples of the mineral known from anywhere in the world.

The locality also became known for specimens historically identified as zaratite, as well as reddish-purple chromium-rich clinochlore traditionally called “kämmererite.” Other reported minerals include serpentine-group minerals, magnesite and hydromagnesite. Some of the old mineral names require care. Nineteenth-century mineralogists worked with analytical methods less sophisticated than those available today, and historical identifications do not always correspond neatly to modern mineral classifications. Zaratite, in particular, has a complicated identification history. It is more accurate to describe it as a mineral historically reported from Wood’s than to assume every specimen carrying the old label has been definitively identified by modern standards.

Wood’s also became a co-type locality for dozyite, a mineral formally described much later. A co-type locality is one of the places associated with the original description of a mineral species. It is a specialized distinction, but it demonstrates that the mine retained scientific significance long after commercial chromite extraction had ended. The same geological environment that once made the site valuable to miners continued to attract the attention of mineralogists and collectors. Wood’s was no longer important primarily because of the quantity of ore it could produce. It was important because of the unusual minerals preserved in its rocks and workings.

Researching Wood’s Chrome Mine can be confusing because historical sources do not always use locality names consistently. Mineralogical references commonly place the mine at Texas, Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Texas is a local place name, not the state. The broader State Line chromite district included numerous mines and prospects on both sides of the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, and nearby workings sometimes appear under overlapping or inconsistent names. Carter’s Mine and other workings associated with the Texas locality should therefore be distinguished carefully rather than assumed to refer to the same operation.

Wood’s also attracted renewed interest during World War I, when concerns about domestic mineral supplies prompted efforts to investigate older workings. The U.S. Geological Survey records exploration by the National Minerals Company at Wood’s and nearby shafts. The Dog Pit was reopened and retimbered, and limited work was undertaken at the main mine, but the results were insufficient to justify sustained operations. The wartime efforts did little to revive an industry that had lost its nineteenth-century dominance.

Today, the mine’s physical remains are easy to overlook and should not be mistaken for a public historic attraction. Mineral collectors have described a water-filled pit and surrounding waste-rock dumps, but access has depended on private property and permission. The abandoned workings are not a safe place for casual exploration. Wood’s Chrome Mine nevertheless occupies an important place in Lancaster County’s industrial and scientific history. Its chromite once connected rural southern Pennsylvania to international markets for chemicals, pigments and dyes. Flooding, the difficulties of extracting an irregular ore body and competition from foreign suppliers contributed to the mine’s decline. By the early 1880s, its principal commercial life had largely ended.

Its scientific importance, however, endured. Wood’s became renowned for exceptional brucite specimens and other unusual minerals, attracting the attention of mineralogists and collectors long after large-scale chromite production ceased. Historical records estimate that the mine had produced approximately 120,000 tons of ore by 1874, and report a depth of about 700 feet by 1867. These figures reflect the extraordinary scale of an operation that helped make the Pennsylvania-Maryland district a dominant source of the world’s chromite during the nineteenth century. 

The story of Wood’s is a reminder that Lancaster County’s history extends beyond its historic buildings, agricultural landscapes and familiar communities. Some of that history survives in geological surveys, mineral specimens and accounts of the industries that once operated beneath the countryside. For several decades, the geology beneath Little Britain Township connected Lancaster County to a global trade. Although the mine’s commercial importance faded, its legacy remains part of the history of American mining and the mineralogical heritage of the region.

The approximate location of Wood’s Chrome Mine is shown above.

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About the Author

Eric Schubert is a Lancaster-based public historian, forensic genealogist, and board member of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County. His work, which focuses on uncovering overlooked histories and preserving community stories, has been featured on Good Morning America, in People, and other national media outlets. He also co-organized the W. Miller Barbour Lecture Series with Abigail Sholes to restore the legacy of the Elizabethtown College alumnus, human rights pioneer, and National Urban League leader.

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Resources

• Pearre, Nancy C., and Allen V. Heyl, Jr. Chromite and Other Mineral Deposits in Serpentine Rocks of the Piedmont Upland, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 
• 1082-K. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960. https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1082k/report.pdf .
• Wilson, Wendell E. “Wood’s Chrome Mine: Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.” The Mineralogical Record 42, no. 4 (2011): 307–334. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289552320_Wood%27s_chrome_mine_Little_Britain_Township_Lancaster_County_Pennsylvania .
• U.S. Geological Survey. Chrome Ores of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Maryland. Bulletin 725-B. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1923.
• Mindat.org. “Wood’s Chrome Mine, Texas, Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA.” Accessed October 22, 2026. https://www.mindat.org/loc-4086.html .