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Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania | |
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 Barn in town | |
  Nickel Mines Location in Pennsylvania Show map of Pennsylvania Nickel Mines Location in the United States Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:39°57′32″N76°4′50″W / 39.95889°N 76.08056°W /39.95889; -76.08056 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Lancaster |
| Township | Bart |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.38 sq mi (0.98 km2) |
| • Land | 0.38 sq mi (0.98 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 35 |
• Estimate (2016) | 32 |
| • Density | 92/sq mi (36/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP codes | 17562 |
| Area code | 717 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1182445[1] |
Nickel Mines is ahamlet that is located inBart Township,Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. Thezip code is 17562 and thearea code is 717.
The area now has a sizableAmish community.
Thenickel mines that give the town its name were worked in a deposit ofsulfide ore, principallymillerite. The mines were originally opened during the early eighteenth century forcopper, but were given up as unproductive.[2]
In 1849, the Gap Mining Company attempted to work the mines for copper, again unsuccessfully, but discovered the presence of nickel in late 1852 or early 1853. (The ore had previously been misidentified asiron sulfide). AnEpiscopal Church was built in 1857 to serve the mining community at the time.
Gap Mining worked the mines for nickel until 1860, when they were closed as unprofitable. It sold the mine toJoseph Wharton in late 1862. Between 1862 and 1893, 4.5 million pounds of nickel were extracted from the site, amounting to as much as twenty-five percent of world production in some years. Wharton refined the nickel inCamden, New Jersey and was the first industrial producer of malleable nickel.[3] He was influential in persuading theUnited States Mint to issue the first five-centnickel coins in 1866, using nickel produced from his mines.
In 1883, the town consisted of the superintendent's mansion, twenty-three miners' homes, a store with dwelling, and five outbuildings.
The mine closed in 1893 because of competition from the new nickel mines inSudbury,Ontario,Canada. No trace of the mines remains today, except for a few waste dumps. The area is now entirely agricultural.
On October 2, 2006, the community became the subject of national media attention after a lone gunman, identified as Charles Carl Roberts IV, took ten girls hostage for nearly an hour at a one-roomAmish schoolhouse serving the community.[4] He then shot all ten hostages, killing five of them, and later committed suicide as responding police officers tried to breach the schoolhouse.[5] The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the response of the Amish community became a topic of wide discussion in numerous national media outlets.[6][7]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 30 | — | |
| 2000 | 43 | 43.3% | |
| 2010 | 35 | −18.6% | |
| 2016 (est.) | 32 | −8.6% |
As of 2016, there were 16 households.
