Lawrence County, Ohio
|
|
||||
| Charcoal Iron Furnaces of Lawrence County, Ohio |
|||||
|
|
|
|
||
| To learn more about a
particular furnace, click on the name of a furnace below
or click the furnace on the map below. Union
Furnace |
Mt. Olive Iron Furnace Restoration
The Mt. Olive Furnace Park Corporation is planning to proceed with the restoration of the buildings surrounding the old stack and arch. The first building to be restored will be the Charging House which sits on top of the furnace and arch. Click here for more information on making a donation. Special Topics on Mt. Olive Furnace and its restoration: |
Click
on a furnace icon to learn more about that furnace.
(Javascript Required)
Other Items of Interest
Charcoal
Iron Furnaces - How
Charcoal Iron Furnaces worked.
Raising Ore
in Lawrence County -
Mining the raw iron ore.
Forests
to Charcoal - How the
forest was turned into charcoal.
Vignettes
of Southern Ohio - Life in
Southern Ohio During the Furnace Years.
History
of Mt. Olive Furnace -
From its beginings to it's being sold for scrap.
How
Mt. Olive Furnace Worked -
What went into making iron from ore.
The
building of Charcoal Iron Furnaces in Lawrence County began with
the building of Union Furnace in Elizabeth Township and ended with the
building of the Oak Ridge Furnace in Aid Township. These furnaces
continued in operation until around the beginning of the 20th
century. 
Old photo of Ironton.
Lawrence County Facts and Firsts
Ironton was the iron capital of the nation around the Civil War era.
Furnaces in Lawrence County were the first to use the hot air blast.
Furnaces in Lawrence County were the first to close on Sundays.
Hecla Furnace smelted a better grade of iron than that from Toledo, Spain or Damascus, Syria and England bought it during the Crimean War.
The iron from the Hecla furnace was used in the manufacture of the `Swamp Angel' canon of Civil War fame.
Lawrence County had the largest number of charcoal furnaces of any county in the Hanging Rock Iron Region.
A hot blast charcoal furnace used 11,370 cords of wood per year.
A cold blast charcoal furnace used 11,500 cords of wood per year.
This is equal to about 300-350 acres of trees per year.
One cord of wood
equals: A stack of wood four feet wide, four feet high
and eight feet long.
|
Web
Page design by Dennis Hawkins Copyright 2006 by Amos Hawkins Visitor Number: |
Date:
Time: |
