KAOLIN: a secondary mineral, derived from fresh aluminum silicates in soil. Crystals: fine-grained and in compact masses with individuals usually indistinguishable. Kaolin forms dull earthy masses, or pseudomorphs after feldspar. Kaolin is widely used in ceramics.
In China there is a high ridge which natives call "Kaoling", meaning high hill. A pure white clay from which the Chinese make porcelain comes from this ridge, and is called "Kaolin" from the name of the hill. Unlike many clays, kaolin becomes white when it is baked in the kiln.
The kaolin mine, or pit, in Blandford was located off Main Street opposite the entrance to the present Kaolin Road. It was probably opened sometime after the Civil War. I remember that my father took me there when I was about six years old, which would have been in 1894, and at that age a boy doesn't see things beyond his own interests. It seemed to be about thirty feet deep and many men were digging a deep ditch to drain off the water which seeped in. The ditch had been dug as far down hill as South Street by then, and was about fifteen feet deep at the pit end. A pump was used to lift the water into the ditch. It was probably a pulsometer as these were used until 1929. After that, gasoline pumps came into use. It was a prime factor to keep the water below the level of work, and it was said that about one hundred men were employed there.
These men were mostly Hungarians and they lived in a building nearly 100 feet long. I remember looking in the window and being amazed to see no partitions in the long room.
Down in the pit, the floor, where about fifty men were piling clay, was dry. I could see that the clay was a beautiful cream color and soft enough to be lifted on round-ended shovels. It held its shape when piled in a heap in the center of the pit which was about forty feet in length. A stiff-legged derrick was a steam hoisting engine and three drums and cables was used to lift the kaolin from the pit and onto the wagons to be taken to Russell to the Blandford Brick and Tile Company's factory. The derrick was similar to those used on ships and wharfs when loading and unloading. They used a scale box, which held one square yard, to lift one load of the kaolin from the pit and let it fall into the wagon. Now, perhaps you've never seen nor known what a scale box is. It is made like a large scoop shovel without a handle and is about five feet wide and seven or eight feet long. The sides and one end are about fifteen inches high. The front side is rounded. A flat piece of steel about three inches wide and three quarters of an inch thick and is riveted to the top edge to add strength. The box itself is made of sheet iron about a quarter of an inch thick. The back corners are rounded and, of course, all sides are riveted together. On each side, about one third of the way from the back, is a 5/8 inch hole through the pan and the three-inch rim on top, with a four-inch ring in these. There are 1/2 inch chains that come from a ring where the chains come together about five feet above the scoop, and a third chain with a toggle hook. When the scoop is full this third chain is hitched into a single ring in front. When the loaded scale box is raised and over the wagon box, the small ring that holds the toggle chain is tapped free and the load slices out.
Each man, it seems, had a job to do as they loaded the wagons and the teams moved out the Russell Road and on to Russell. I used to count them as they passed the Second Division School when I was in the first grade there. There were twelve to fourteen wagons and they made two trips a day.
I used to think that the pit was shut down because of the water level, but now I think it was because the clay ran out. About the year 1900, two little girls were standing on the western side of the pit; the ground gave way, and one, Laura DeBraul, was drowned. After this tragedy, the pit was filled in as well as the drainage ditch. Thus the land today appears much as it did before the Kaolin pit was operated.
From Stone Walls Magazine, Fall, 1978