Catoctin Furnace Historic District | |
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| Location | Catoctin Furnace, Maryland |
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| Coordinates | 39°34′35″N77°26′2″W / 39.57639°N 77.43389°W |
| Built | 1774 |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000578 |
| Added to NRHP | February 11, 1972 [1] |
Catoctin Furnace (also known as Catoctin Iron Furnace) is an historic iron forge located on Route 15 between Frederick and Thurmont in Catoctin Furnace, Maryland. Since it was closed in 1903, no forge has been at the site.
Catoctin Furnace was constructed in 1774 by four brothers Thomas, Baker, Roger and James Johnson to produce pig iron from locally mined hematite. [2] [3] Operated as a blast furnace by 1776, this foundry provided ammunition (cannonballs) for the American Revolutionary War. Some sources state that it also provided cannons. [4] [5] [6] They also state that iron from this furnace was (much later) used to make plates for the USS Monitor; however that is considered unlikely by researchers. [7] Slaves operated the furnace during this time. [8] In 2023 a research project identified 41799 descendants of these slaves and is considering to notify them. [9] The Johnson brothers owned the furnaces at the site at first collectively, and after 1793 singly, until 1811. [10]
Ultimately, three furnaces were built at the site, each named for the site. The first Catoctin Furnace was rebuilt a short distance away in 1787. [10] The second, named Isabella was built in the 1850s by Jacob Kunkel (references give dates from 1853 to 1867). It still stands, within Cunningham Falls State Park. [11]
The first two furnaces burned charcoal. [12] The third, which opened in 1873, burned coke [13] (some sources say anthracite coal, though this would be more costly [3] [14] ). The entire complex closed in 1903 (attributed to rising costs and the too-late introduction of a rail link). [6] [15] [16]
The furnace's remains are located in Cunningham Falls State Park. A walking-tour handout is available in the park's visitor center.
In 1973, the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc. was formed by G. Eugene Anderson, Clement E. Gardiner, J. Franklin Mentzer, and Earl M. Shankle to “foster and promote the restoration of the Catoctin Furnace Historic District…and to maintain the same exclusively for educational and scientific purposes…to exhibit to coming generations our heritage of the past…” The Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., celebrates, studies, and preserves the rich history of this pre-revolutionary industrial village, including the architecture, cultural landscapes, lifeways, and foodways of the workers.
Frederick County is a county located in Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick.
Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 census, making it the second-largest incorporated city in Maryland behind Baltimore. It is a part of the Washington metropolitan area and the greater Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area.
Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, 0.3 miles (0.5 km) south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania.
Thurmont is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 6,935 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the northern part of Frederick County, approximately ten miles from the Pennsylvania border, along U.S. Highway 15. It is very close to Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin Mountain Park, the latter of which contains the presidential retreat of Camp David. Thurmont is also home to Catoctin Colorfest, an arts and crafts festival that draws in about 125,000 people each autumn.
Point of Rocks is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Frederick County, Maryland. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,466.
Thomas Johnson was an 18th-century American lawyer, politician, and patriot. He was a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774, where he signed the Continental Association; commander of the Maryland militia in 1776; and elected first (non-Colonial) governor of Maryland in 1777. Throughout his career, Johnson maintained a personal and political friendship with George Washington, who gave him a recess appointment as an associate justice of the Supreme Court in August 1791. He served only briefly, resigning in January 1793, citing poor health.
Catoctin Mountain Park, located in north-central Maryland, is part of the forested Catoctin Mountain ridge−range that forms the northeastern rampart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the Appalachian Mountains System.
Catoctin Mountain, along with the geologically associated Bull Run Mountains, forms the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are in turn a part of the Appalachian Mountains range. The ridge runs northeast–southwest for about 50 miles (80 km) departing from South Mountain near Emmitsburg, Maryland, and running south past Leesburg, Virginia, where it disappears into the Piedmont in a series of low-lying hills near New Baltimore, Virginia. The ridge forms the eastern rampart of the Loudoun and Middletown valleys.
Catoctin is a name of an Algonquian origin that refers to a number of geographical designations in the Mid-Atlantic United States.
The Catoctin National Recreation Trail is a 26.6 mi (42.4 km) hiking trail that traverses federal, state, and municipal woodlands along the northern half of Catoctin Mountain in Frederick County in central Maryland, USA. The hilly terrain is typical of western Maryland with large sections canopied under dense forest cover.
U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Walterboro, South Carolina, north to Painted Post, New York. In Maryland, the highway runs 37.85 miles (60.91 km) from the Virginia state line at the Potomac River in Point of Rocks north to the Pennsylvania state line near Emmitsburg. Known for most of its length as Catoctin Mountain Highway, US 15 is the primary north–south highway of Frederick County. The highway connects the county seat of Frederick with Point of Rocks, Leesburg, Virginia, and Charles Town, West Virginia, to the south and with Thurmont, Emmitsburg, and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to the north. US 15 is an expressway throughout the state except for the portion south of MD 28. The highway is a freeway along its concurrency with US 340 and through Frederick, where the highway meets US 40 and Interstate 70 (I-70). US 15 has a business route through Emmitsburg.
Monterey Pass is a 1,300 feet (0.40 km) mountain pass located in Franklin County, southern Pennsylvania.
Cunningham Falls State Park is a public recreation area located west of Thurmont, Maryland, in the United States. The state park is the home of Cunningham Falls, the largest cascading waterfall in Maryland, a 43-acre (17 ha) man-made lake, and the remains of a historic iron furnace. The park is one of several protected areas occupying 50-mile-long Catoctin Mountain; it is bordered on its north by Catoctin Mountain Park and on its south by Frederick Municipal Forest.
Maryland Route 77 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs 20.74 miles (33.38 km) from MD 64 in Smithsburg east to MD 194 in Keymar. MD 77 is the main east–west highway of northern Frederick County. The state highway connects Thurmont with eastern Washington County via Foxville, which lies between South Mountain and Catoctin Mountain near Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park. MD 77 links Thurmont with western Carroll County through the communities of Graceham, Rocky Ridge, and Detour in the Monocacy River valley. MD 77 was constructed from Thurmont east to Detour in the 1920s and early 1930s. A disjoint section of MD 77 was built between Cavetown and Foxville in the late 1930s. The portions of the modern highway between Foxville and Thurmont and from Detour to Keymar were county highways until they were designated part of MD 77 in 1956. MD 77's western terminus was moved east to MD 64 in Smithsburg in 1960.
Catoctin Furnace is an unincorporated community located on Route 15 between Frederick and Thurmont in the northern part of Frederick County, Maryland, United States. It is the site of the Catoctin Furnace Historic District.
Principio Furnace and village is in Cecil County, Maryland, 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Havre de Grace.
The Elkridge Furnace Complex is a historic iron works located on approximately 16 acres (6.5 ha) at Elkridge, Howard County, Maryland.
Maryland Route 806 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs a total of 4.05 miles (6.52 km) in two segments from U.S. Route 15 near Catoctin Furnace north to Roddy Creek Road near Thurmont. MD 806A, which has a length of 3.04 miles (4.89 km) from Catoctin Furnace to Thurmont, and MD 806R, which extends 0.55 miles (0.89 km) on the north side of Thurmont, are separated by a section of municipally-maintained road on the south side of Thurmont and a segment of MD 550 north of MD 77. MD 806 is the old alignment of US 15 through Catoctin Furnace and Thurmont. The state highway was originally constructed in the 1910s. MD 806 was assigned to the highway when US 15 bypassed Thurmont in the late 1950s. The state highway became a split route in the late 1980s. There have been several other segments of MD 806 along former sections of US 15 in Frederick County, including portions around Lewistown and south of Frederick.
Foxville is an unincorporated community in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Foxville is located on Maryland Route 77, 4.7 miles (7.6 km) west of Thurmont. Settled in the late 18th century, the historic village is situated between South Mountain to the west and Catoctin Mountain to the east. Catoctin Mountain Park, Cunningham Falls State Park, and the Appalachian Trail are all within a few miles of Foxville.
catoctin furnace.
catoctin furnace.
catoctin furnace.
catoctin furnace anthracite.
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