This mine pit, on the backside of Gore Mountain (the second largest ski resort in the Adirondacks), was once the largest garnet mine in the world. Garnet is a hard rock with a coarse crystal structure that makes it useful as an abrasive medium. The Barton Mines Company opened the mine in 1878. For nearly a century, it was a major domestic source for garnet, used to make sandpaper, and abrasives for polishing glass, including lenses and optics during World War II, and color television screens. A long open pit formed over the years, before the mine closed in 1982. Barton operates a more modern garnet mine nearby, which replaced this one, but its life continues as a tourist attraction, and a family rock collecting site.