7-25-2024 12:17am

July 25, 1890: Thomas Alva Edison Abandons Bechtelsville Iron Mine Built for Ore Extraction

Lesley Misko Editor

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

July 25, 1890: Thomas Alva Edison, the American inventor whose many discoveries have greatly influenced life around the world, including the electric light bulb, the phonograph and the motion picture camera, has been experimenting with an ore concentrator that works on the principle of a powerful magnet, attracting the ore and separating it from the earth without any further manual labor.

He had brought an iron mine north of Bechtelsville, near Heydt’s Schoolhouse, and installed expensive machinery for the purpose of testing his new invention. He is now abandoning his mission, dismantling the equipment that cost over $50,000 to install, and moving it to another state. He found that the quantity of ore in the rocks here is insufficient to pay for his experiment. Although his concentrator was a success, it was not practical because of the great operating expense.

Edison had been a frequent visitor to the Boyertown area, here to inspect his property and see how his magnet was working. When he was in the area, he stayed at the Bechtelsville Hotel, and Leidy’s Livery Stable in Boyertown had the contract to provide his transportation.

It was well-known that Edison was not a very social person. When four prominent Boyertown businessmen showed up at the hotel to pay their respects to the inventor, they asked the proprietor, Jacob Bauman, to announce their presence. The famous inventor explained in a hot temper that he was there to work and not to entertain, picked up his sombrero, strode downstairs, left the hotel by a side door, and departed in his “milk buggy.