Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee

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Cumberland Furnace
Cumberland Furnace Postoffice and Resicent circa 2016.jpg
Cumberland Furnace Post Office
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Cumberland Furnace
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Cumberland Furnace
Coordinates: 36°16′07″N87°21′35″W / 36.26861°N 87.35972°W / 36.26861; -87.35972
Country United States
State Tennessee
County Dickson
Elevation
[1]
518 ft (158 m)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code
37051
Area code(s) 615, Overlay 629
GNIS feature ID1281828 [1]

Cumberland Furnace is an unincorporated community in Dickson County, Tennessee, United States. [1] Cumberland Furnace is served by a U.S. Post Office, ZIP Code 37051. [2]

Contents

History

General James Robertson purchased the land now known as Cumberland Furnace in 1793 and constructed the first furnace.

In 1804, Montgomery Bell moved to Middle Tennessee and purchased James Robertson's iron works business for $16,000. Bell expanded his operations and constructed other furnaces and mills, including a hammer mill south of Charlotte on Jones Creek utilizing waterpower.

By 1808, Bell was buying wood at 50 cents per cord for charcoal to fuel his furnaces, which cast cannonballs utilized in the War of 1812 by General Andrew Jackson's troops at the Battle of New Orleans. [3]

A nearby unincorporated community where many of Bell’s workers lived is called Bell Town. Bell suffered losses in the Panic of 1819, and in 1824, he advertised the Narrows and other properties for sale in the Nashville Whig. Bell offered to sell his ironworks to the U.S. Army to be used for an armory; however, floods on the Harpeth were well known and that idea failed.

Bell sold the ironworks to Anthony Wayne Van Leer, who was a member of a well-known family in Pennsylvania and noted in the anti-slavery cause. [4] [3] His mansion was also used as a Union headquarters. [5] [6] Van Leer’s granddaughter married a Union Captain James P. Drouillard and built what is now known as the Drouillard House on his property. Captain Drouillard operated the furnace until it was sold in 1889 to the Southern Iron Company. [7]

The Cumberland Furnace Historic District was designated on September 28, 1988 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [8]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Taylor (Pennsylvania politician)</span> Founding Father of the United States (c. 1716 – 1781)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montgomery Bell</span> Manufacturing entrepreneur

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Van Leer may refer to:

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The Calvary Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church located off Tennessee State Route 48 in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antoinette Van Leer Polk</span> Baroness de Charette (1847-1919)

Antoinette Van Leer Polk, Baroness de Charette was an American Southern belle in the Antebellum South and French aristocrat in the Gilded Age. She was born into the planter elite, the great-niece of the 11th President of the United States James K. Polk and a member of the influential Van Leer family through her mother. She was an heiress to plantations in Tennessee and a "Southern heroine" who warned Confederate soldiers of advancing Union troops during the American Civil War. After the war, she moved to Europe, where she took to foxhunting in the Roman Campagna of Italy and the English countryside, and later became a baroness and socialite in Paris and Brittany.

The Drouillard House is a historic house at Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee. Built in 1868–1870 in the vicinity of Cumberland Furnace, the three-story house was a summer residence for Nashville socialite Mary Florence Kirkman and her husband Captain James Pierre Drouillard. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since December 27, 1977. It is also part of the Cumberland Furnace Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Van Leer</span> American Revolutionary War officer (1747–1825)

Captain Samuel Van Leer was a military officer from Pennsylvania who served as a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and as a lieutenant in the Chester County Light Horse Volunteers from 1781 to 1785. After his retirement from the military, he owned the Reading Furnace ironworks.

Anthony Wayne Van Leer was an American ironmaster and owner of the Cumberland Furnace in Dickson County, Tennessee. He was a member of the influential Van Leer family, the son of Samuel Van Leer, captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and nephew of General Anthony Wayne. The town of Vanleer, Tennessee is named after him.

Isaac Van Leer was a Pennsylvania ironmaster and owned the Hibernia Furnace, Springton Forge and historic Hibernia House in West Caln Township, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the influential Van Leer family and was the son of Samuel Van Leer, a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.


The Van Leer family, originally spelled Von Lohr, is an influential German–American family that emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania in the 17th century from the Electorate of Hesse near Isenberg, Germany. The family made their fortune in the United States through the ironworks business. The family includes American business owners, academics, civil rights activists, women's rights activists, university founders, inventors, politicians, and military officers. Earlier spellings include Von Leer, Von Lohr, and the ancient surname Valär.

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee
  2. United States Postal Service (2012). "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code" . Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Smith Futhey, J. (2007). "History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Biographies". History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Biographies. pp. 687–688. ISBN   9780788443879.
  4. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/33e0ccbd-9d73-4fe4-99de-1e6214e81ae1
  5. "Anthony Van Leer's House a Union Headquarters".
  6. "Saint James Episcopal Church History". International Architecture Database.
  7. Gail Hammerquist (March 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form: Drouillard House" (PDF). National Park Service . Retrieved July 28, 2015. Five photos (1977)
  8. Cumberland Furnace Historic District (#88001109)