At its peak, the furnace employed 80 men and produced 3,000 tons of pig iron annually,
shipped by rail to distant manufacturing centers such as Baltimore, Cincinnati, and
St. Louis. Iron-ore was brought in from several nearby mines. The New River provided
the necessary water power, and the Cripple Creek Extension, begun in 1882, of the
Norfolk and Western Railway provided easy means of distribution. The furnace is seen here
at the back of the building pictured in the center. (The photo image
is courtesy in 2013 of
Chuck Vaughan and Joe Weicksel. Mr. Weicksel's
grandfather, Joe Vaughan, is "in [the] middle holding [a] rake."
See
close-up.)
