The Iron Furnace

The Iron Furnace is located in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and is the remains of the furnace that can be seen today.  The lower portion of the original 1819 30 foot high blast furnace is what is left and can be view after doing a short hike to the furnace.  The Iron Furnace was a large complex and it was called the Newlee Iron Furnace.  The furnace was used to create Iron that was shipped down the Powell river to Chattanooga. The materials needed to create one ton of Iron was 200 bushels of charcoal, 2 tons of iron ore and 500 pounds of limestone which were all dumped into the top of the furnace by men, often slaves.  A water wheel powered bellows kept the fire hot.  It took 4 to 6 hours to produce molten iron.  The daily product at the Newlee Iron Furnace was 3 1/4 tons of iron at a cost of $19.40 per ton in 1877.  When you look at the furnace and how much stone was involved in building it you can only imagine the amount of men it took to build.  I was glad we could see it and all it have been.