Finding Aid to the Hibernia Underground Railroad Company Records, 1889-1894 Finding Aid to the Hibernia Underground Railroad Company Records, 1889-1894 North Jersey History and Genealogy Center
The Morristown and Morris Township Library One Miller Road Morristown, NJ 07960
Overview of Collection Hibernia Underground Railroad Company HM2 MSS Hibernia Hibernia Underground Railroad Company Records, 1889-1894 .5 linear feet in 1 manuscript box History of the Hibernia Underground Railroad Company

While much is known about the Revolutionary War era signifigance of the iron mines of northern New Jersey, less information is available on the railroad that facilitated the movement of iron ore to market from 1863 until the early 1900's. Accounts vary as to when the original tunnel was dug and when tracks were first put down, but it is believed that by 1898, the Hibernia Underground Railroad (H.U.R.R.) was "an incorporated narrow gauge railway...[that] went as far as 317 feet below the surface", and then traveled along an "1,800 foot long elevated trestle" Forging the Future, 2004: p. 23).

It can be argued that the H.U.R.R. is unique in at least one aspect. While it was not the first iron mining railroad built in New Jersey, it was the first and only one to travel inside a mountain (p. 22). And while early colonists and legendary captured Hessian soldiers provided the underground labor in the 1700's, Italians and Hungarians were reported to work the mines, and thus load the rail cars, in 1879 and 1891 respectively (Jerseyman, May 16, 1879: p.3; January 9, 1891: p.3). Finally, as the mine itself had a succession of owners since it's beginning, the raiload also appears to have been held by various interests. Historians and curators Westmoreland and Nadzeika state that by the end of the useful mining of iron ore in New Jersey, two railroad companies had assumed control of the mine roalroads: the Central Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western.

Today, the abandoned railroad tunnel is the state's largest hibernaculum. Surveys have shown that the Hibernia mine is used in winter by more than 25,000 bats of several species (Mining Towns in Rockaway, accessed October 29, 2009).

Sources held by the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center:

HM1 Hist For- Forging the Future: The Iron Industry of Morris County: Debra K. Westmoreland and Bonnie-Lynn Nadzeika. Document accompanying exhibition presented by the Morris County Historical Society, November 2003-March 2004.

History Center Databases- Jerseyman, 1879; 1891.

General Sources:

Annual Statements of the Railroad and Canal Companies of the State of New Jersey together with Report of the State Director of the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company for the year 1901, 1902.

Mining Towns in Rockaway. http://members.tripod.com/rt_history/miners.html; accessed October 29, 2009.

Related materials in this Repository

Call number - Item description and/or title, dates.

H929 DeCamp - DeCamp Family Papers, 1745-1976.

 Scope and Content of the Records

The collection is composed of personal and professional correspondence, invoices, a stock certificate, a deed, and other legal documents regarding the Hibernia Underground Railroad Company. All of the information in this collection dates from three years; 1889, 1890, and 1894.

Arrangement of the Records

The six folders of the collection are arranged chronologically. The four folders dating from 1889 are arranged alphabetically.

 Important Information for Users of the Collection

These records are open to researchers. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the North Jersey History Center researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Material in the Hibernia Underground Railroad Company Records, 1889-1894, may be photocopied, but because this material is a permanent part of the History Center's collections, researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier for bound material.

Acquisition Information

On permanent loan from the Morris County Historical Society.

 Preferred Citation

Hibernia Underground Railroad Company Records, 1889-1894. North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.

 Processing Information

Finding Aid arranged, described and encoded by North Jersey History and Genealogy Center Archivist, Fall 2009.

 Container List 1 1 Deed: Glendon Iron Company [transfer to DeCamp family], 1889. 1 2 Legal documents: DeCamp vs. Hibernia Underground Railroad Company, 1889. 1 3 Receipts, 1889. 1 4 Stock certificate, 1889. 1 5 Correspondence and receipts, 1890. 1 6 Correspondence and receipts, 1894.