Remains of a curious coal handling facility, probably one of the first "mine mouth" power plants.

Hickory Hill mine yielded semi-bituminous coal which was stored in this silo. An aerial tramway carried coal in buckets from here, across two mountain summits, then down to a steam electric plant. It carried 75 tons per hour over the 2.5 mile distance. I'll post another detail view.

I wish I could have seen that!

The mine operated from 1929 to 1944, after which a mine at the level of the steam plant was opened and connected by conventional railroad. Unfortunately, a local historian who documented a lot of stuff in this area just died. I doubt anyone will take over his role... it's a remote area, but has a fascinating history in iron, coal, and firebrick.