Phelps Dodge Corporation

Since its founding as a trading company in 1834 by Anson Greene Phelps (1781-1853), the Phelps Dodge & Co. (renamed the Phelps Dodge Corporation after the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Co. aquired its assets in 1917) provided many of the raw materials that fueled America's early industrial expansion and helped build frontier communities of the American West. In 1881, the Phelps Dodge Corporation invested in copper mining in Arizona and continues to mine those claims today.

From the description of Collection of research material related to the Phelps Dodge Corporation, 1880-1940. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 122446184

Mining corporation; Arizona.

From the description of Reporters' transcript of proceedings, 1935. (University of Arizona). WorldCat record id: 31530281

The Phelps Dodge Corporation was founded in 1834 as a New York City-based mercantile company by Anson G. Phelps and William Dodge, two of the prominent New Yorkers approached for support in 1869 by Albert S. Bickmore, the founder of the American Museum of Natural History. The company entered mining in 1881 when it invested in a share of the Detroit Copper Mining Co. in Morenci, Ariz.

Phelps Dodge has donated mineralogical material to the AMNH, most notably a 4.5 ton pillar of azurite/malachite ore, extracted from the Copper Queen Mine in Bisbee, Ariz. The block of ore contains approximately one ton of copper and was called the "Singing Stone" in the days before adequate climate control, because changes in humidity caused portions to vibrate and "sing."

From the description of Reports, 1966-1967. (American Museum of Natural History). WorldCat record id: 56884453

The Phelps Dodge Corporation's Laurel Hill Plant began, in 1872, as a chemical plant co-founded by William Henry Nichols called G.H. Nichols and Company making sulphuric acid. In the 1880's the company expanded its operation to refining copper and created the famous copper brand Nichols Lake Substitute (N.L.S.). In 1891 the company changed its name to the Nichols Chemical Company. In 1895 the Nichols Chemical Company contracted with Phelps Dodge and Company to have Phelps Dodge deliver 1,000,000 pounds of blister copper.

In 1899 the Nichols Chemical Company merged with other chemical companies to create General Chemical Company with William Henry Nichols as chairman. In 1930 William Henry Nichols died and the Phelps Dodge Corporation bought the Laurel Hill Plant. In the 1970s Phelps Dodge Corporation began to scale back production at the plant. In 1984 the corporation finally closed the plant. For over 100 years the plant produced copper, silver, gold, copper and nickel sulphates, and small amounts of selenium, tellurium, platinum, and palladium.

From the description of Phelps Dodge Corporation, Laurel Hill Plant records, 1893-1983. (New York State Historical Documents). WorldCat record id: 155414470