- Scotia, Pennsylvania
Scotia was a village in Patton Township, Centre County,
Pennsylvania , at coord|40|47|59|N|77|56|46|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title. Although the community was called Scotia, the name of the local post office was Benore ("Ben" being the Gaelic for "mountain [of] ").It got its start when
Andrew Carnegie , through theEdgar Thompson Steel Company , leased large tracts ofiron ore in the township. Small-scale mining had taken place here since the late 18th century, but Carnegie organized a major effort to exploit the deposits in 1880. Ore was removed from a broad open pit, washed to separate it from clay, and loaded onto railcars. ThePennsylvania Railroad had extended its Fairbrook Branch to the village in 1881, and hauled the ore to steel mills in Pittsburgh. There was also an extensive narrow-gauge railroad in the pits to haul ore to the washer, and several artesian wells and a reservoir to supply water for ore washing.cite book | title=The Story of Scotia | last=Williams | first=Harry M. | editor=Betty F. Johnson | year=1992 | publisher=Centre County Historical Society]Carnegie sold the ore deposits to the
Bellefonte Furnace Company in 1899, feeling that they were no longer economical to work and ship to Pittsburgh. Immediately after the sale, theBellefonte Central Railroad built a new branch from Graysdale to Scotia, allowing the ore to be shipped directly to the company's furnaces rather than take a roundabout route on the PRR. However, mining halted in about 1913, and all the assets of the Bellefonte Furnace Company were sold at foreclosure in 1914. The Bellefonte Central abandoned its line to Scotia in 1915cite book | last=Kline | first=Benjamin F. G., Jr. | title="Pitch Pine and Prop Timber" The Logging Railroads of South-Central Pennsylvania | edition=2nd edition | origyear=1971 | year=1999 | chapter=1-6 | pages=186] , and the PRR in 1927.cite book | last=Taber | first=Thomas T., III | year=1987 | title=Railroads of Pennsylvania Encyclopedia and Atlas | publisher=Thomas T. Taber III | isbn=0-9603398-5-X] The village had already been vacated in 1922 or 1923.cite web | url=http://departments.juniata.edu/geology/sprucecreek/Spruce%20Creek%20Assessment%20PSU/07_Chapter%205_Culture%20and%20Community.pdf | title=Culture and Community of Spruce Creek | accessdate=2006-09-29]There was a brief attempt to revive mining at Scotia during
World War II , and the Bellefonte Central receivedReconstruction Finance Corporation money to built a new branch from Alto to Scotia to serve the new facilities. However, the mine was only briefly in operation before the cessation of hostilities, and soon ceased permanently. [cite journal | last=Rudnicki | first=Jack | coauthors=Mike Bezilla | year=2001 | title=From Iron Ore to Limestone and Lime...to Nothing | journal=National Railway Bulletin | volume=66 | issue=2 | pages=17–18] The area is now encompassed byPennsylvania State Game Lands No. 176.References
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