Hiddenite is an unincorporated community in east-central Alexander County, North Carolina

Alexander County, North Carolina

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 33,603 people, 13,137 households, and 9,747 families residing in the county. The population density was 129 people per square mile . There were 14,098 housing units at an average density of 54 per square mile...

. It is part of the Hickory

Hickory, North Carolina

Hickory is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina. Hickory has the 162nd largest urban area in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 341,851, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. The city's population was 37,222...

–Lenoir

Lenoir, North Carolina

Lenoir is a city in Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 18,228 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Caldwell County. Lenoir is located in the Blue Ridge foothills. The city also contains the Brushy Mountains, a spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains...

–Morganton

Morganton, North Carolina

Morganton is a city in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. Reader's Digest included Morganton in its list of top ten places to raise a family. The town was recently profiled in The 50 Best Small Southern Towns. The population was 17,310 at the 2000 census...

 Metropolitan Statistical Area

The Unifour

The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area or The Unifor, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties in the Catawba Valley region of western North Carolina...

. The town of Hiddenite was incorporated in 1913, but its charter

Charter

A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...

 was repealed in 1919. Hiddenite was named for William Earl Hidden (1853–1918), a mineralogist

Mineralogy

Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...

 sent to North Carolina by Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

 to look for platinum

Platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

. Hidden discovered the gem that came to be known as "hiddenite

Hiddenite

Hiddenite is a pale-to-emerald green variety of spodumene that is sometimes used as a gemstone.The first specimens of the hiddenite variety of spodumene were recovered about 1879 near the tiny settlement of White Plains, west of Stony Point, Alexander County, North Carolina. According to...

" in 1879 in mines nearby. Hiddenite is a variety of spodumene

Spodumene

Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, LiAl2, and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite , yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, prismatic crystals, often of great size...

 and is the only precious gemstone

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

 that cannot be synthesized. Until recently it was found only in Alexander County, North Carolina, but in recent decades it has been subsequently found in Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

 and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. The area around Hiddenite also yields emerald

Emerald

Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...

s, sapphire

Sapphire

Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...

s, and many other precious stones. Sluicing and digging for precious gems is a popular recreational activity that draws many visitors to the area.

Prior to the arrival of W.E. Hidden, the community was known as White Plains; this is how the area appears on a map of 1871. Hiddenite was once noted as a health resort

Spa town

A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...

 because of its sulfur

Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...

 springs

Spring (hydrosphere)

A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...

.

Hiddenite's altitude is 1,140 feet (347 m) above sea level. The community is also a poultry

Poultry

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...

producer. Native and life-long resident Raeford A. Thomas is generally considered to be the unofficial "mayor" of Hiddenite.

The Hiddenite Celebration of the Arts

The Hiddenite Celebration is held on the 4th Saturday in September. The Celebration begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 4 p.m. The Celebration invites people to see and participant in arts and crafts from different cultures. The main culture is the folk ways of North Carolina. Hispanic and Hmong folk ways are also celebrated at the Celebration. The Celebration is full of entertainment and food from around Alexander County. The annual Hiddenite Half-Marathon is held at the Celebration. The marathon is 13 miles and begins at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and the finish line is marked in front of the Lucas Mansion. Anyone can participant in this event and trophies are given to those who place.

External links

• Website of Hiddenite's mining company
• Mineral data
• Hiddenite Gem find Original article by W.E. Hidden in the US. Geol. Survey in 1882.