Tahawus Titanium Mine Site, New York

This former open pit titanium mining operation, operated for decades by the National Lead Company, lies in the heart of Adirondack State Park, near the headwaters of the Hudson River, which has been diverted around the site. Open pit mining started here during World War II, subsidized by the federal government, as titanium was considered a strategically critical military material, used primarily for white paint pigment. The government built a railroad to the mine site from its previous terminus at North Creek, and the mine employed hundreds of people, most of whom lived in a company town that was relocated some miles away when the mine expanded after the war. The mine closed in 1989, leaving two large pits, now flooded, and  among the deepest lakes in the Adirondacks. Most of the extensive mining buildings were removed in the 1990s. The 1,200 acre site is still privately owned, and is one of the few industrially zoned locations in the Park. Gravel from the mountains of tailings, is sold as aggregate.