The origins of the mines in the Ellenville area, like so many of the mines of early America, have been lost in the fog of time. Local legends have the mines variously attributed to the Dutch, the Spanish (remnants of Ponce de Leon’s party searching for the fountain of youth), American Indians, or aliens in UFOs seeking to extract energy from the quartz crystals deep within the Shawangunk Mountains.

Today, all that remains of the famous Ellenville mines are a few tailings piles, collapsed mine shafts, and broken-down building foundations, but during the glory years of the nineteenth century these mines produced the world-class specimens of quartz and chalcopyrite that reside in museums and private collections around the globe.