IST Feb. 27, 1927 – Old Hanging Rock Furnace Now Only a Relic of Distant Past.
One of the landmarks of this section of the country, especially the Hanging Rock neighborhood, is being slowly dismantled and soon will be but a memory. The old Hanging Rock blast furnace operated until November 1923 continuously from its construction in 1883 by Means, Kyle, and Company has outlived its usefulness and is being junked.
Salvage work to date has removed all possibility of the furnace ever being placed in operation again. It has been announced by Wm. Jefferys, president of the Hanging Rock Iron company owners.
The furnace at Hanging Rock has fast crumbled away since it was put out of operation in 1923. The heavy steel smoke stacks were recently pulled down because of their menace to travelers on the A. P. highway through the village. There was always the danger of their being blown over the road, and officials concerned took the necessary safety steps.
The wooden ore trams have fallen down, the casting “shed” wrecked, and other equipment removed. The blast furnace remains intact with other buildings, but indications are that these will soon be razed and the site cleared.
In passing from the operation, the Hanging Rock furnace joins the other furnace skeletons which remain in Lawrence county as bleak reminders of those turbulent days when the heart of the nationally known Hanging Rock Region was in its prime. The Pine Grove, Vesuvius, Hecla, Oak Ridge, Union, and other the older furnaces have passed.
Photo of the old Hanging Rock Post Office, above photo is courtesy of the Lawrence Register archives.
Still, only a few were of the modern blast type at Hecla, Pine Grove, and other points. The heavy stone stoves remain reminders of active days when charcoal furnaces were in vogue and before the new hot blast era in 1837. A hot blast experiment was conducted at old Vesuvius furnace in 1837 by William Firmstone, the first in the United States, and it revolutionized the industry.
The Hanging Rock furnace story brings to light other interesting features. In the years of charcoal business, all iron was brought to Hanging Rock as a river shipping point with no railroads. The Hanging Rock Railroad, the narrow gauge line familiar to all residents of this section of the country, was built to transport coal and iron from Pine Grove to Hanging Rock and the river.
That was when the New Castle mines were in full operation, and the road was successful from its start in the 40s. Two by four-inch oak rails were first used, nailed to under supports. Later, flat, wide steel rails raised on one side were used, and some of these may still be found along the mine entrances of the company’s right of way.
Later 60-pound charcoal iron rails were installed, and the railroad is still in shape for operation. All Hanging Rock residents have seen the small 50-ton engine, and it is even now put in operation when occasion demands transportation of forest products from the Pine Grove neighborhood. The New Castle and Ohio River Railway Company control the property. That concern recently filed an application with the Interstate Commerce Commission for permission to abandon the line.
The Hanging Rock Iron Co. has 8,000 acres of land between Hanging Rock and Pine Grove, rich in timber and mineral products. The property is
being liquidated, and the capital stock is retired. Soon the concern will be dissolved, and another interesting chapter in the history of Ironton and this section of the country will conclude.
[IR Nov. 17, 1887 – A Hanging Rock Stove Co. meeting will be called to consider moving the foundry to Ironton.]
0 Comments