The Mix – Iron Ore, Carbon, Limestone, Air, and Energy

If you mix the element iron (Fe) present in iron ore

The element carbon (C) present in charcoal, coke, or coal

A slag forming material like limestone (to soak up the inevitable impurities like silicon dioxide)

The element oxygen (O₂) present in air (air is 21% oxygen)

A significant amount of energy (just to get these ingredients to the necessary temperature to commence the desired reaction)

IRON, or with a bit more finesse and by adding other ingredients in small amounts, steel.

The charcoal based iron furnace at Buena Vista, built in 1847^{Rist,Iron, p41} of sandstone, and the charcoal based iron furnace at Star, built in 1848^{Rist,Iron, p101} also of sandstone, used this process. The iron jacketed furnace at Princess that commenced production in 1877,^{Rist,Iron, p93} and used coal not charcoal, used this process. Buena Vista Furnace, Star Furnace, and Princess Furnace were all in the Williams Creek Basin.

Image of the Princess Furnace at Princess KY in rural Boyd County:

The Iron Jacketed Princess Furnace.  This image is from Riley, and Ricker. Ashland Ky (Lithograph). Printed by Shober & Carqueville Lithography Company, circa 1877.^{Lithograph of Ashland} Click on the image for a larger view.

The Princess Furnace was located at the red teardrop marker in this link.
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The two iron jacketed furnaces of the Ashland Coal and Iron Railway (AC&I) on the Ohio riverfront in the area of current 6th Street in Ashland KY — one built in 1869 and the other in 1887 — initially used “#7 Coalton Coal” with this process (they later switched to more efficient coke). The iron jacketed Norton Furnace built in 1873, also on the Ashland KY Ohio riverfront, at about 22nd Street, and initially using coal (later using coke) also used this process. The grade, #7 Coalton Coal, was named after the large drift mining operation at Coalton KY, but this same terminology was used for coal produced in other mines in the general area of Boyd and Eastern Carter Counties.

Annual Report of the KY Inspector Of Mines for 1889 (pages 45 & 46 pasted together)^{KY, Annual Report of Mines, 1889, p45,46}

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Image of the Two AC&I Furnaces in Ashland KY:

Two Iron Jacketed Furnaces of the AC&I beside the Ohio River at current 6th Street in Ashland KY.^{Hanners 1776-1976, p11}

These AC&I furnaces were located at the red teardrop marker in this Google Maps Link.

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Early Image of the Norton Furnace in Ashland KY:

Early image of the Norton Furnace. This Image is from Arnold Hanners photograph collection, Furnaces binder, page 1, Boyd County Public Library, Central Av Branch.^{Hanners Photos}

The Norton Furnace was located at the red teardrop marker in this Google Maps Link.

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The business interests behind all of these furnaces commingled and are all intertwined.

The charcoal furnaces at Buena Vista and Star both began production at about the same time (1847 and 1848), and ceased production at about the same time (1873 for Star^{Rist,Iron, p104} and 1878^{Rist,Iron, p94} for Buena Vista). These two furnaces made iron using local materials — iron ore dug near the furnace site, and charcoal produced locally from timber on the huge land tracts owned by these furnace operations. Buena Vista had 6,000 acres,^{Rist,Iron, p43} and Star had 9,333 acres.^{Map of Star Furnace Lands} By the end of their production runs in the 1870’s they may have consumed much, possibly all, of the timber on these lands to make charcoal. As time progressed they had to use timber for charcoal production that was undoubtedly farther and farther away from the furnace site, so as the years of production built up the cost for the charcoal had to increase.

The over 9,000 acres of land of the Star Furnace in east central Carter County were purchased by the Norton Furnace in 1874, after iron production ceased, and Norton commenced coal mining operations there.^{Rist,Iron, p104}

From 1840 to the 1880’s the transportation scene in the United States changed significantly. By 1880’s the railroads were everywhere, but in the 1840’s there were no railroads in the areas of any of these iron furnaces. The railroads brought all sorts of new business opportunities, but they also exposed competition from other areas making iron, or making iron in a manner that did not rely only on local raw materials like the business model for Buena Vista and Star. With the railroads an iron furnace could get raw materials, possibly raw materials of higher quality, from here or there. So Buena Vista and Star died because they had exhausted their charcoal supply, but there is likely more to it than that. They also likely died because Buena Vista and Star could not easily avail themselves of high quality raw materials and transportation opportunities via the ever more pervasive railroads.

Buena Vista Furnace and Princess Furnace were both partially owned by the same industrialists, principally the Means family based in Ashland KY. The site of the Princess Furnace is only 1 mile from the Buena Vista Furnace and was located on land initially owned by Buena Vista Furnace. As it became apparent that the Buena Vista Furnace was nearing the end of its useful life due to the lack of charcoal and possibly no railroad service, they ran experiments at Buena Vista using locally mined coal instead of charcoal and were pleased with the results.^{Rist,Iron, p101 to 104}

Image of the ruins of the Buena Vista Furnace in the rural community of Buena Vista in Boyd County KY:

Ruins of the Buena Vista Furnace. Part of the furnace was hewn into the sandstone of the hill. Image by Lon Coleman on 20 March 2013.

The ruins of Buena Vista Furnace are located at the red teardrop marker in this Google Maps link.

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Image of the ruins of the Star Furnace in the community of Star in rural Carter County KY:

Overgrown rubble and ruins of the Star Furnace. Note the large sandstone block and the iron band in the image. The iron band would have been to keep the basic sandstone building blocks of this furnace from bulging out. Image by Lon Coleman on 16 Dec 2016.

The overgrown ruins of the Star Furnace are located at the red teardrop marker in this Google Maps link.
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Princess Furnace was an iron jacketed furnace and used locally mined coal and locally mined iron ore. I grew up at Princess very near the furnace site and played on the hills in the shallow strip mine trenches where the iron ore was mined. Princess was not built of sandstone like Buena Vista and dozens of other charcoal based iron furnaces in the general area. The mechanisms from the Buena Vista Furnace for producing the hot blast of air and other necessary furnace mechanisms were moved from Buena Vista Furnace to be used at Princess.^{Rist,Iron, p93 to 95} Production commenced in 1877; this is only 1 year after Buena Vista closed. Princess Furnace did not have rail service directly at the facility but there was rail service about 1 mile southeast at the AC&I line running back to Ashland KY (no link to Lexington KY until 1881).

Princess Furnace did not run well, and after only about one year of operation ceased production in 1878.^{Rist,Iron, p93-95} In 1879 Thomas Means purchased his own bankrupt corporation, and in 1883 the iron jacketed Princess Furnace was dismantled and shipped by rail to Glen Wilton VA where it was reassembled and operated until the 1920’s (still being called the Princess Furnace). This long production run of the Princess Furnace at Glen Wilton suggests it could have been corrected and performed better when it was at Princess in Boyd County.

Image of ruins of the Princess Furnace in Glen Wilton:

My partner Linda Newman and my buddy Moon on the ruins of the Princess Furnace at Glen Wilton VA. Image by Lon Coleman on 20 Feb 2019.

The ruins of Princess Furnace, after it was relocated to Glen Wilton VA, are located at the red teardrop marker in this Google Maps link.

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The Means family were also major shareholders and corporate officers of the both the AC&I, and the Norton Furnace. So, they had business interests in the two two iron jacketed furnaces of the AC&I in Ashland KY, and the iron jacketed Norton Furnace in Ashland. I suspect that the Means family, the owners of the Princess Furnace, realized that the time was over for a furnace that was not operating perfectly, relied on only local ores, and did not have direct rail service. Thus the Means family may have given up on Princess to concentrate on their furnaces in Ashland KY, which were much better placed with very good rail service, and transportation opportunities directly on the Ohio River. The Princess Furnace was a more modern design than the sandstone structure, charcoal burning ones like Buena Vista and Star, but the business model to run Princess furnace had not evolved and was the same as Buena Vista and Star; those methodologies’ time had passed.

Initially the two AC&I furnaces and the Norton furnace in Ashland probably used iron ores from nearby communities delivered by rail, and “#7 Coalton Coal” delivered by rail from mines they owned in western Boyd and eastern Carter Counties. But over time they procured richer iron ores from other locations much farther away. They also stopped using raw coal and started using more efficient carbon rich coke. The coke used was produced at a plant along the Ohio River in the vicinity of 39th Street in Ashland.

Annual Report of the KY Inspector Of Mines for 1887 (pages 45 & 46 pasted together)^{KY, Annual Report of Mines, 1887, p45,46}

The two AC&I furnaces in Ashland on 6th Street, purchased by American Rolling Mill (later called ARMCO) in late 1921, thrived. In 1926 the hearth at the #2 furnace at 6th Street ruptured and it was shut down permanently. The other furnace, #1, continued being used until the last blast on 30 Sep 1960.^{Rist,Iron, p27 & 29} Norton Furnace was also purchased by American Rolling Mill in 1928 and produced until 2 May 1964.^{Rist,Iron, p82}

A big thanks to James Kettel of the Boyd County Public Library for providing the image of the Norton Furnace and for confirming several references.

Also thanks to David Barker for his research assistance with the image of the AC&I Furnaces.

And as always thanks to Linda Newman for the great article editing and web mechanics advise.

Enjoy!  Lon

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