By courtesy of its author, Lawrence H. Bernstein, the long out of print Minerals of the Washington D.C. Area is available free for download. Included with it are three separate and thorough map enclosures.
Written
in 1980, with the serious collector in mind, this book notes all the
species then known to have been collected within 50 kilometers of the Nation's
Capital. Focus is on localities. Emphasized are the most significant localities
that were accessible at the time of publication. Scores of additional
localities, a total of 191, are also mentioned, their locations numbered on two
of the maps.
While
many localities, particularly in Virginia, have given way to sprawl,
development, and "progress," a few, particularly in Maryland, still
exist and remain accessible. Some dumps from Mineral Hill Mine in Carroll
County have areas that are as accessible and arguably as productive today as
they were prior to 1980. Soldiers Delight in Baltimore County is also
essentially intact, although collecting there is prohibited.
Regardless
of what now covers the surface at many localities, the geology surrounding them
remains the same. A section in the book about pertinent geology is particularly
helpful in describing to collectors what to look for.
A
geologic map of the area enhances the section on geology. Two other maps show
the specific locations of all the localities
that were then known to have existed. Another downloadable enclosure is a
key provides a key to these two maps with the locality names and the
number that denotes them on those maps.
No other
guide that we're aware of provides a better overall general perspective on the
mineralogy of Central Maryland.
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