Peach Bottom Township near Delta in York County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

The Slate Splitters

Photographed by Bill Pfingsten

1. The Slate Splitters Marker

Inscription. Slate has the unique ability to be split into thin layers from which roofing material is made. This is known as the "cleavage". Slate is actually mud that settled in layers to the bottom of an inland sea 400-600 million years ago and was subject to extreme pressure to harden it and to give it this property. Peach Bottom slate was formed during the Ordovician geological period (500 million years ago).

Splitting slate has long been considered an art. It is a job that looks easy but in reality it is difficult. No machine has ever been invented to replace the slate splitter. It has been done this same way for hundreds of years, using virtually the same tools.

The splitters were always the highest paid workers, and were the "aristocrats" of the quarry. Usually they worked in teams of two, known as a "block". One worker did the splitting,the other did the trimming or "dressing", to make the proper size slates. Their wages were $1.50-$2.00 a day (1880).

Today you are witnessing a dying art. There are very few slate splitters still working in the United States.

Top Photo
Slate splitters at Funkhouser Quarry, c. 1930's

Bottom Photo
Splitters, Dressers and Quarrymen at Proctor's Quarry, c. 1895. Note the stacked roofing slates. This was known as the slate "bank".
The Old Line Museum

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This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1895.

Location. 39° 43.488′ N, 76° 18.479′ W. Marker is near Delta, Pennsylvania, in York County. It is in Peach Bottom Township. It is on Green Road 0.1 miles east of Ridge Road, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 28 Green Road, Delta PA 17314, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Pennsylvania, specifically in Pennsylvania Dutch Country,

in the Susquehanna Valley,

and in Greater Harrisburg.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Welsh Slate Quarrymens' Cottages at Coulsontown (here, next to this marker); The World Famous Peach Bottom Slate

The Slate Splitters Home image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Pfingsten

2. The Slate Splitters Home

(here, next to this marker); The Welsh Immigrants (here, next to this marker); Dedicated to the honor and sacrifice (approx. one mile away); Mason-Dixon Line (approx. 1.9 miles away); Peach Bottom Slate Region (approx. 2.2 miles away in Maryland); The River, the Dams and the Lakes (approx. 3½ miles away); The Canal Community (approx. 5.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Delta.

More about this marker. Left to right:
"The Welsh Immigrants" plaque,
"Welsh Slate Quarrymens' Cottages at Coulsontown" plaque,
this ("The Slate Splitters") plaque.
On reverse side:
"The World Famous Peach Bottom Slate" plaque.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 26, 2020, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. This page has been viewed 708 times since then and 25 times this year. Last updated on April 15, 2021, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 26, 2020, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland.