Rock Springs (State Line Chromite Mining District)

Rock Springs is a small community in Cecil County, Maryland, right on the Pennsylvania line, at the center of the historic State Line Chromite Mining District — once the largest deposit of massive chromite ever found in the United States. Three mines worked here — the Line Pit (Lowe's Mine), the Jenkins Mine, and the Peebles Mine — but all were abandoned by 1870, with organized district mining ending in 1919. Gem collector John Sinkankas reportedly called the serpentine found here the finest in the world. This is a real, historically significant locality, but the mines themselves are old, and current ownership isn't confirmed — don't assume you can walk onto this ground.

Rock Springs, Cecil County, Maryland, on the Pennsylvania state line. The Line Pit straddles Fulton Township, Lancaster County, PA and Cecil County, MD; the Jenkins Mine sits on Rock Springs Run about a mile north of the village. No current public trailhead or parking directions were found.

Historically worked as open pits and tailings; any surviving collecting today would be surface or dump picking on whatever ground is accessible. No current field report describing present-day conditions was found — general inference only.

Land ownership is UNVERIFIED. Maryland rockhounding guides note that almost all of the state's best collecting spots, especially old mines and quarries, are privately owned and require advance landowner permission. Treat the Rock Springs mines as private until you confirm otherwise — don't assume access based on the site's historical fame. See Funks Pond Recreation Area, about 3.5 miles south in the same serpentine belt, for a documented public alternative.