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. 

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park was established in 1940 and it located in three states where their borders all meet; Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.  It has 20,500 + acres and see over 850,000 visitors a year.  There are over 81 miles of hiking trails and wildlife watching is easy.  There are deer, beavers, foxes, bobcats, bears and over 150 species of birds.  The hiking trails range from easy 1/4 mile hike to the 21 mile ridge hike.  The trails vary from wide pathways to narrow trails.  The park's visitor center is located in Middlesboro, Kentucky.

Wilderness Road - Cumberland Gap

Wilderness Road was the principal road used by settlers for more than 50 years to reach Kentucky form the east.  In 1775 Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky.  It was a steep, rough and narrow trail that could only be done on foot or on horseback but it was still used by thousands of people.  The original trail was a large loop with a distance of 200 miles. In 1792 the new Kentucky legislature provided money to upgrade the road.  In 1796 it became an all weather road and was opened for wagon and carriage travel.  The road was abandoned around 1840.  Today many highways follow much of the route along with hiking trails in the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. 

Cumberland Gap, TN

Cumberland Gap, TN is a town in Claiborne County, TN.  It is located near Cumberland Gap, a historical mountain pass for which the town got its name and is surrounded on all sides by the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.  In 1888 a work camp was established at Cumberland Gap by Scottish-born entrepreneur Alexander Arthur to house workers needed to build a tunnel for the Knoxville, Cumberland Gap and Louisville Railroad.  Arthur, who was attempting to establish a large scale iron production operation in the Cumberland Gap region founded the nearby cities of Middlesboro, Kentucky and Harrogate, TN and the nearby community of Arthur.  It was considered the "Gateway to the West". It then became a strong hold during the Civil War and the town changed sides four times during the war.  There is a building that was the Confederate States of America Headquarters when the South had control of the town. Today Cumberland Gap is a tourist town with antique shops and local restaurants.  The towns population under 500 but almost every building in town is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It has a "Mayberry" atmosphere.  We had lunch at the Pineapple Tea Room and it was delicious.  I would highly recommend this restaurant to eat at.  We did a little shopping in the antique stores and I picked up a an old magazine rack that will be perfect in the RV.  We had a good day at Cumberland Gap and we will be returning a lot more often.

Cumberland Gap

Cumberland Gap is a narrow pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland mountains which is part of the Appalachian Mountains near the junction of U.S. States Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.  It is famous in the American Colonial history for the role as key passageway through the lower central Appalachians as part of Wilderness Road.  During the Civil War it transferred sides four times between the Confederate and Union armies. 

Our "Spring Break" begins today!

Tim, Shadow and I are leaving the farm for a week and headed to Columbia, SC in the Little Cabin on Wheels for our "Spring Break".  We will be staying at Fort Jackson Recreational area as our home base while we take day trips to different places in the area.  We will be taking a short two day trip to the Jacksonville, FL area to visit our kids and granddaughter too.  We are planning on visiting Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Columbia, Charleston and Savannah too.  There is lots to do in the area and to follow along with us please follow my Travels With Ruth blog:
travelswithruth-ruth.blogspot.com
On this blog, Just Another Day At The Farm, I will be continuing our adventures of Cumberland Gap. We saw so much in one day that it will take me a few days to share it with you. 

A Nice Day With Friends

Who would of guessed that on Leap Day, Feb 29, that we would be able to have lunch out our deck?  Well we did!  Our friends Larry and Linda came over for lunch yesterday and it was so warm outside we were able to eat out on the deck instead of inside like I thought we would have to.  Lisa and George also joined us and we had a nice afternoon getting all caught up with all that has gone on since we had last been together.  I made an easy lunch, veggie soup, salad and bread, and Linda brought two delicious desserts, oatmeal bars and banana pudding with vanilla wafers.  Everything was delicious!  Linda, Lisa and I did some crafty things and the men stayed outside chatting the afternoon away.  It was a good day.  Thanks Larry, Linda, Lisa and George for coming over for the day.