1927 The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide Page: 249
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THE TEXAS ALMANAC. 249
ous earth are found in Reeves and other
Trans-Pecos counties. (See statistical
tables.)
HELIUlM.-Practically all of the helium
used in the big lighter-than-air craft of
the United States Army and Navy is pro-
duced at the Government plant at Fort
Worth. Helium is taken from the nat-
ural gas produced at Petrolia. The nat-
ural gas is piped to the Fort Worth plant
which is designated as Helium Production
Plant No. 1 of the United States Bureau of
Mines, where the helium is extracted. The
plaht has a capacity of about 2,000,000
cubic feet monthly. This plant was
operated by the United States Navy
Department until late in 1926, when it
was transferred to the United States Bu-
reau of Mines. Helium has been adopted
in lighter-than-air craft because it is al-
most as light as hydrogen, formerly used
exclusively, and is not inflammable. In ad-
dition to use in dirigibles and balloons,
helium is now being used in the manufac-
ture of synthetic atmospheres, composed
of helium and oxygen for use in subma-
rine and compressed-air engineering
work.
ICTHYOL.-This oil is found in one or
two locations in Burnet County. Certain
interests claim also to hold icthyol pros-
pects in Brewster County.
IRONGreat iron ore deposits exist in'
Texas in two belts (1) in East Texas in
the vicinity of Cass, Cherokee, Harrison
and neighboring counties, and (2) in the
Cent al Mineral Region in Burnet. Llano
and Mason Counties. As long as the pro-
duction of pig iron from charcoal furnaces
was profitable there was considerable
production from the East Texas deposits,
but during recent years there has been
no production because of lack of a near-
by supply of coal adaptable to the manu-
facture of coke, which is now universally
used as fuel in iron furnaces. There con-
tinues to be a lively interest in the iron
ore deposits of Texas, however, and some
investigations were made by representa-
tives of outside capital during 1926. Texas
has an immense fuel supply in the midst
of the East Texas iron ore field in the
form of lignite and if lignite could be
adapted to iron furnace use, no doubt a
great iron industry would spring up in
this region.
Early Production.
Though there is no production of iron
from the great deposits of iron ores in
Texas today, yet there was production
from furnaces at Kelleyville near Jeffer-
son and at Jefferson prior to the Civil
War and production continued in various
parts of East Texas until 1909. The early
furnaces turned out iron for the manu-
facture of simple household articles, plows
and other agricultural implements. Dur-
ing the '60s and '70s small privately
owned furnaces operated at various points
in Marion, Cass and possibly other coun-ties in East Texas, and in 1883 the State
of Texas went into the business by erect-
ing at Rusk, in Cherokee County, a fairly
large furnace, known as "Old Alcalde,"
which was put in blast Feb. 27, 1884. It
was rebuilt by the State in 1896 with a
capacity of 10,000 tons annually. Until.
1903 it was operated as a charcoal fur-
nace, as had been all previous Texas fur-
naces, but in that year it was changed to
a coke furnace and the capacity raised to
23,000 tons annually. There was a cast
iron pipe factory, owned by the State, in
connection with the furnace. Both furnace
and factory were operated for a number
of years with convict labor in connection
with the Rusk penitentiary. The Star and
Crescent furnace was built near Rusk in
1890-91 and operated for a number of
years, but usually below its capacity of
18,000 tons annually of pig iron. The
Tassie Belle furnace was built at New
Birmingham near Rusk in 1889-90, having
a capacity of 13,500 tons of pig iron an-
nually. Both of these furnaces were
charcoal type, the charcoal being supplied
by large beehive ovens erected near the
furnaces. While the three Cherokee
County furnaces were operating in the
early '90s there was also a furnace at
Jefferson, the combined capacity being
72,500 tons of pig iron annually.
There has been no production of pig
iron in Texas since 1909, when the last of
these furnaces closed down, although the
Alcalde furnace was taken over by pri-
vate interests in 1919 and a brief attempt
was made to onerate it. The decline of
the small iron industry of Texas was due
almost entirely to the fact that modern
iron production requires coke, and coal
suitable for making coke is not available
in Texas.
Extensive Deposits.
Of iron ores Texas has an abundance,
easily available. The greater quantity lies
in East Texas, being principally limonite,
but with some carbonate ores. The me-
tallic content ranges from 25 to about 65
per cent, the ore usually lying in broad
strata about two feet thick at the tops of
low hills. There is little or no overbur-
den and the mining process is simple.
Cass, Cherokee and Harrison Counties
have between 300 and 400 square miles of
ore area each and there are smaller areas
of iron ore in Camp, Gregg, Henderson,
Houston, Marion, Morris, Nacogdoches,
Panola, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine,
Shelby, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt
and Wood Counties. These ores, crushed,
make an excellent road surfacing material
and there is some quarrying for this pur-
pose at present.
Ores of the Central Region.
Iron ores in large quantities are found
also in th' Central Mineral Region in
Burnet, Llano and Mason Counties. They
are principally magnetite and hematite.
Possibly the best known deposit is the fa-
mous "Iron Mountain," about twelve miles
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1927 The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide, book, 1927~; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123785/m1/253/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.