The last road turning left off of Hwy. #27 south of Rockwood,  just before the Whites Creek Bridge is Eagle Furnace Road.  Back on it is the area called Eagle Furnace and where the old iron works once stood.  My neighbor (b 1902 d 2002) told me her greatgrandfather  was a teamster for the furnace.  He hauled pig iron from Eagle Furnace to Nashville in a wagon with a six horse team. It took six weeks to make the round trip.  Pig iron was the load to Nashville and supplies were brought back on the return trip. The route to Nashville was across the mountain where Hwy #70 is now located .  Much of the area where the Eagle Furnace stood is covered by Watts Bar Lake. Eagle Furnace is in the 5th district of Roane Co. which is the old 12th district, and was just across Whites Creek from Rhea Co. My neighbor mentioned nothing about the name of the owner or operator of Eagle Furnace. She might not have known his name, or it just didn't enter into her story. Frances Roane Co. TN

Frances, Thanks for sharing your neighbor's memories of Eagle Furnace. I have since discovered a newspaper article from the 1920s on the Roane County Heritage Commission website that stated the Eagle Furnace was built around 1841-42 by Robert CRAVENS, a nephew of the George GORDON we were speaking of earlier. That article, by the way, can be found at: http://www.roanetnheritage.com/research/historical%20articles/mcelwee/12.htm Again, thanks for the info! Ken Parks