February 14, 2007

The mining town of Rush (Marion County) once boasted a population of approximately 5,000. A reported silver strike brought miners to the area in the 1880s. A smelter, such as the one seen in this photo, proved the suspected silver to be zinc. A growing world market for the mineral brought rapid growth to the town, which peaked with the zinc demands of World War I. After the war, demand rapidly declined, as did the town’s population. Today, the now-deserted ghost town is a part of the Buffalo National River area and is on the National Register of Historic Places.