I visited the ruins of the Star Furnace on June 28, 2015 and interviewed the current owners of the land, Greg and Phyllis Brainard Bush. This article details that visit. The Star Furnace produced iron from locally mined iron ore,
1860 – Colliers – Making Charcoal in the Williams Creek Basin
How were many families earning a living in 1860 in the Williams Creek Basin (abbreviated WCB)? In 1860, just before the Civil War, there were only two relatively small population centers in the WCB. One was at Buena Vista Furnace