Catoctin Furnace
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Catoctin Furnace (also known as Catoctin Iron Furnace) was constructed in 1774 by four brothers Thomas, Baker, Roger and James Johnson to produce pig iron from locally mined hematite.[1][2] In blast by 1776, the furnace provided ammunition (cannon balls) for the American Revolution. Some sources state that it also provided cannon.[3][4][5] They also state that iron from this furnace was (much later of course) used to make plates for the USS Monitor; however that is considered unlikely by researchers.[6] The Johnson brothers owned the furnaces at the site at first collectively, and after 1793 singly, until 1811.[7]
Ultimately, three furnaces were built at the site, each named for the site. The first Catoctin Furnace was rebuilt a short distance away in 1787.[7] The second, named Isabella was built in the 1850s by Jacob Kunkel (references give dates from 1853 to 1867). It still stands, within Cunningham Falls State Park.[8]
The first two furnaces burned charcoal.[9] The third, which opened in 1873, burned coke[10] (some sources say anthracite coal, though this would be more costly[2][11]). The entire complex closed in 1903 (attributed to rising costs and too-late introduction of a rail link).[5][12][13]
[edit] References
- ^ Records Relating to Pre-National Zoological Park Purchases. Smithsonian Institution.
- ^ a b T. J. C. Williams (1979). History of Frederick County, Maryland. Genealogical Publishing Com.
- ^ George Ernest Barnett (1902). State Banking in the United States Since the Passage of the National Bank Act. Johns Hopkins Press, 46.
- ^ Catoctin Iron Furnace. Greater Emmitsburg Area Historical Society.
- ^ a b George Wireman. Gateway to the Mountains — Chapter 3: The Catoctin Iron Works. Greater Emmitsburg Area Historical Society.
- ^ Edmund F. Wehrle (March 2000). Catoctin Mountain Park Historic Resource Study — Chapter Three: Civil War and Decline of Industry. U. S. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ a b James Moore Swank (1884). History of the Manufacture of Iron in All Ages, 194.
- ^ Catoctin Furnace at Cunningham Falls State Park. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Catoctin Iron Furnace. U. S. National Park Service.
- ^ (1890) Directory of Iron and Steel Works of the United States and Canada. American Iron and Steel Institute.
- ^ Maryland Board of World's Fair Managers (1893). Maryland, Its Resources, Industries and Institutions. Sun job office.
- ^ Catoctin Furnace at Cunningham Falls State Park. Maryland Department of Natural Resources (August 28, 2002).
- ^ Civil Engineering in Maryland — Catoctin Furnace. The Johns Hopkins University.
