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"
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 (
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 (
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.
The six folders of the collection are arranged chronologically. The four folders dating from 1889 are arranged alphabetically.
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.
On permanent loan from the Morris County Historical Society.
Hibernia Underground Railroad Company Records, 1889-1894. North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.
Finding Aid arranged, described and encoded by North Jersey History and Genealogy Center Archivist, Fall 2009.