Kentucky is blessed in having an abundance of natural resources and one of the largest in times past was found in the iron industry. Employing thousands of Kentuckians, this industry provided much income for the state. Iron was critical to the early settlers for their guns, pots and pans and tools. But it was also extremely difficult to haul over the early settlement routes of the Ohio River or Cumberland Trail. The need was great; iron pots for needed for the salt making industry; weapons to fight the Native American tribes which still roamed the soon-to-be state. In Bath County, settler Jacob Myers built the fist iron furnace on Slate Creek in 1791. It was a charcoal-burning furnace with water-powered bellows which produced approximately one ton of iron per day and was soon turned into cooking kettles, farm equipment and nails. Col. Thomas Dye Owings from Maryland became the first "iron-master" and as the iron furnaces produced, the markets increased through the state. Andrew Jackson was said to have purchased cannon balls here for the Battle of New Orleans. The mill became known as "Old Thunder Mill." It was soon evident that the industry needed Legislative help and the Kentucky Legislature enacted laws to ensure roads would be built to the mills, improved waterways to the furnaces and exempted them from taxes. During the period of 1790-1900, according to the Kentucky Encyclopedia, there were about 80 iron furnaces built in Kentucky. By 1830 there were 58 furnaces. These were located in the following areas: Red River Region: Estill, Lee, Powell, Menifee and Bath Counties. Hanging Rock Region: Greenup, Boyle, Carter and Lawrence Counties. Nolin River Region: Bullitt, Edmonson, Grayson, Muhlenberg and Nelson Counties. Cumberland Region: Crittenden, Caldwell, Livingston, Lyon and Trigg Counties. Middlesboro Region: Bell County. The Aetna Furnace in Hart Co (built 1816), was so large as to cover 10,000 acres. They produced kettles, andirons, castings, stoves and bar iron for the foundaries. Near Paradise, KY, Robert S. C. A. Alexander bought 178,000 acres and brought workers in from as far away as Scotland. But the soil here was not as rich in iron ore as believed and shut down within a period of a few months. At Middlesboro, Alexander Arthur built what he thought was going to be a boom town near the Watts furnaces in 1890. These furnaces closed in 1898. Grand Rivers in Livingston County began in 1890-91 and has had two furnaces built 60 feet high. It closed in 1921 at a loss of millions. There were furnaces in the Hanging Rock region in Carter, Boyd and Greenup Counties; by 1880's Ashland, KY was producing a large amount of iron ore. Airdrie Furnace in Muhlenberg County was the first furnace in KY, in 1856, to try to use raw coal instead of charcoal in its processing - this was a failure. Finally, Kentucky lost out to its competition to other iron ore producing states. The life of the iron worker was not an easy one. Again, according to the Kentucky Encyclopedia, "Ore and limestone mined near the furnace were mixed with charcoal prepared on the property and burned together in a stone stack to produce workable iron. Some of this product was further refined under a huge forge hammer to produce wrought iron for blacksmiths. Hollow ware like pots, stoves and the like was often cast in sand molds in a cast house adjacent to the furnace." The furnace itself could be from 30-45 feet high and was made of stone. One furnace could produce from 3-10 ten tons of iron clay per day. In some counties, particularly those such as the Buena Vista furnace in Boyd County and Laurel furnace in Greenup county, furnaces were simply carved out of the tall cliffs nearby. Triangular aches were found in Green County's New Hampshire furnace and the Cottage furnace in Estill County. Flat-topped arches were built at Clear Creek in Bath County and the Belmont furnace in Bullitt County. Stepped arches were at Mt. Savage in Carter County and Mammoth in Lyon Co. Brick furnaces were built at the Center furnace in the Cumberland-Tennessee river region. As with coal miners, the iron worker was often looked down upon as somehow second class citizens. Boarding houses, hotels, blacksmith shops and other small industries grew up around the iron furnaces; but saloons were seldom seen as appeared out west in the gold mining areas. Slaves worked in the iron furnaces also. For more information I would suggest the following sources: The Kentucky Encyclopedia, University Press of Kentucky, (c) 1992. http://users.stargate.net/~vagelk/primer.htm - An 1870's Primer. This explains the iron making process and has excellent diagrams. http://academics.vmi.edu/gen_ed/Iron/felix.htm - a detailed description of the history of iron making in Virginia. (c) Copyright 29 August 2002, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved, sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/ GORIN worldconnect website: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~sgorin SCKY resource links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html