Carl E. Malone, Sr.
7/25/1921 - 6/30/2005

Carl and my dad were like two peas in a pod. Unlike my dad, Carl was a native resident of Lawrence County and had lived there nearly all of his life. Some of Carl's anscestors actually worked at the furnaces. Carl would tell my dad all sorts of stories about the furnaces and would take my dad around to visit with the few furnace workers that were still living at the time.

In 2002, my dad and Carl, who was a 32-year employee of the U.S. Forestry Service originally from Symmes Township, got together to form the Mt. Olive Furnace Park Corporation. The goal was to restore Olive furnace to what it was when it was first built. This would include rebuilding the original buildings, such as the company store (which was planned to have a museum and classroom on the second floor), and also adding shelters with picnic tables for parties and reunions. With the cooperation of the U.S. Forestry Service, they planned to create nature trails for people to explore.

My dad and Carl were concerned that too many of the younger residents of Lawrence County didn't know the history of the area. They envisioned enhancing the learning experience of the children in the area by promoting mandatory field trips to Olive Furnace to learn about area history.

Unfortunately, their plans for Olive Furnace have not been realized as I write this. Funding, plus the dvanced age of both Carl and my Dad, were the chief reasons. Hopefully some day that will change.

Dennis Hawkins

Obituary

I had planned to place a copy of Carl's obituary here, but I was not able to locate a copy of it.