>From what I understand slate mining was a major industry in Buckingham County at one time it was and is used in the roofing industry. If you scan through the census records you will see occupation listed as slater, many of them from Whales and England. It was readily available and they found one of its uses as headstones and currently as signage welcoming you to Buckingham County, much in the same way as granite is used in areas of Georgia. Buckingham's slate was used for school blackboards, mantles, flagging, etc. Slate from Buckingham was of the finest quality and found in its greatest abundance along the Slate River, not far from the James River. One of the interesting occupations in Buckingham at one time was gold mining and before the California gold rush Buckingham was know for it production of gold. among the most noted gold producing mines were the Buckingham, Loudoun, Lightfoot, Bumpass, Ford, Hobson, Ayres, and Duncan or Apperson mines. A rich vein of gold was opened at the Ford mine in 1835, but at no great depth it was found to run into copper pyrites, a valuable ore but considered useless at that time, its presence added so much cost to obtaining the gold the mine was abandoned. The Lightfoot mine, near the Ford mine and probably on the same vane is one of the oldest and was the most valuable gold mine in the State. Source: "The Southeren Planter and Farmer" article dated: Feburary 1871, article by Jed Hotchkiss of Staunton, VA Randy Kidd