History
Please Note: There are a lot of discrepancies of dates and ownership of Furnace Town from the majority of sources. I will do my best to sort it all out, if possible.
1732 - Md. Legislature passes an Act to Encourage Adventurers in Iron Works.
1788 - The Furnace Town Property was part of 40,000 acres belonging to the Askiminikonson Native Reservation. It was inhabited by the Pocomoke, Annamessex, Manokin, Nasswattex, and Acquintica Native American tribes.
1788 - Joseph Widener, of Philadelphia, “discovers” bog ore. Other records state 1799. In The Story of a Lost Village it states: Labor easily obtainable…Irish immigrants from Philadelphia…free negroes from the area…[Widener] bought a few slaves…among which was 14 year old Sampson Harmon. Widener freed him when furnace was sold. [Note: Sampson Harmon was born in 1790. His father came to Nassawango with Widener in 1788.]
1828 - The Maryland Iron Company was formed. [Other papers state the date as 1830. In 2008 Furnace Town celebrated the 180th Anniversary of the Incorporation Papers being drawn up by the Maryland Iron Company].
1829 - Mark Richards, of Philadelphia, receives a charter from the Maryland General Assembly to form the Maryland Iron Company, to produce ‘Pig Iron’. He claims 5,000 acres on the Nassawango Creek, which includes a grist and sawmill and a mill pond. From The Story of a Lost Village: Richards and eight others buy out Widener. Now called the Furnace Tract.
1830-1832 - Furnace was built with workers coming from New Jersey. A 300 acre pond is cleared with three mill races. One for the grist mill, one for the saw mill and one for the water wheel. Lewis Walker, from Speedwell, Pa., is the Iron Master and builds a home at Furnace Town.
May 20, 1832 - An advertisement in the Snow Hill Messenger: Workers needed at the Furnace. Begins operation. Sixty people employed to run furnace.
May 21, 1832 - From the Snow Hill Messenger: "Furnace erected five miles from town by the Maryland Iron Company. [After stack was built, according to the Paper Phoenix Rising, Maryland Iron purchased an additional 5,000 acres and started iron production].
1834 - Richards sells the land, with furnace, to Benjamin Jones of Philadelphia, Pa.
1835 - Jones signs on Thomas A. Spence, of Philadelphia, now living in Snow Hill, to run the furnace operations. There were 25 homes built to house 100 people.
1837 - Furnace Town property was sold at public auction in Snow Hill. Purchased by John Dean and Benjamin Watson. [Other sources note that Thomas Spence owned the property until the final shutdown of the furnace in 1850]
1837 - Letter from Benjamin Jones to Thomas Spence advising him not to cut more timber than can be used for the season. In five months 500 acres were cut down to make charcoal. (There was no work in the winter months as the creek and rivers were frozen). This year also marks the start of the Hot Blast system. Spence owned a store in Snow Hill and opened another at Furnace Town.
1838 - According to the Democratic Messenger, April 21, 1949, there were 400 people living at Furnace Hill [Another name of Furnace Town]. Spence turns the Iron Master's house into a boarding house and builds his family the Mansion House.
1840 - The Maryland Iron Company turns over the lands' deed to Benjamin Jones. The census notes that Thomas Spence has six slaves [Unsure if the slaves worked at the furnace]. Court oks the sale of the property, no one purchases. Spence is allowed to stay on as a renter.
1850 - The furnace is fired one last time. There are ten men working at the furnace. It is then put up to be sold for $12,000. Spence is accused of selling off lumber instead of trying to sell property. [He is also accused of being a drunk by his political adversaries].
1851 - Jones tries to sell land but boundaries of property are disputed.
1852 - Property is put up at a public auction. Sold to the highest bidder, Richardson, for $6,000.
1853 - Property sold to Martin, Handy and Smith for $3,100 cash.
Early 1900's - Frank Warren moves to the Pocomoke Forest and starts building his home known as "The Forest". Questions were raised as to how the building materials were brought to such a remote site. Jack Higgins in a letter to the editor of the Daily Times states "...local historian Henry Shockley once told me Mr. Warren had purchased the original buildings from the Iron Furnace site during the early 1900s. He had them dismantled and used the old timbers to construct his elaborate home." [from Portrait of Salisbury Maryland by Richard Cooper 1994].
1911-1912 - Property is owned by U.S. Senator John Walter Smith. Purchased 5,000 acres as a timber investment for $41,000.
1914 - Smith hires an expert to investigate amount of Bog Ore in area. There are vast quantities but no transportation to make it feasible.
1925 - Upon Smith's death, the property is left to his daughter, Georgia Smith Foster.
1930 - A brush fire on nearby farm rages out of control and burns 3,000 acres around the furnace. After the fire, the furnace became visible from nearby roads.
1934 - Rudimentary repairs are started on the newly 'rediscovered' furnace. Etched into the cement patchwork is: Rebuilt by Dickerson 1934. A 2024 post on the Furnace Town Facebook page turns up a few interesting comments. A Teresa Smith found in some notes: "In 1934 Mr. Adkins, his father Charlie and Tob Dickerson did repair work on the furnace. 'We rebuilt it - adding new brick and cement.' The money for repairs came from a Judge Dennis of Baltimore, Md."
1949? - Descendants of Furnace Hill volunteer to begin restoration on the furnace.
1958 - Georgia Smith dies and leaves the property to other Foster family members.
1960 - Foster heirs decide to give property, including furnace, to the Worcester County Historical Society. First they hire Roland Robins (archaeologist who found Thoreau's house at Walden Pond) to evaluate the furnace property. Robins is quoted in a letter to Frank Foster "...the Nassawango furnace can be liked to an iceberg, of which only one-eighth is seen above water." He then suggests that the Fosters donate the land to the Historical Society.
1962 - The Fosters deeded 12 acres to the Historical Society.
1962-1965 - The Historical Society retains Robins to do a more complete survey of the property. Robins finds many foundations and parts of the water wheel foundation. His colleague, Heite, reports that "...the Nassawango hot blast system was possibly the only surviving example of its kind in the US."
1966 - Frank Jones, a descendant of Benjamin Jones, finishes the first phase of restoration at a cost of only $400 (initially set to be $15,000).
1975 - Placed on the National Register of Historic Places. November 31, 1975. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/106778663
1977 - The Parish House was moved from Pocomoke City, Maryland to Furnace Town. It first served as a Visitor Center and then a museum (see below).
1977-1980 - Laborers are supplied by CETA and inmates from the Poplar Hill Correctional Facility. Noted in the Democratic Messenger, December 21, 1977: Excavations reveal that the furnace extends another five feet into the ground. Also during this time there were protests to some of the proposed restoration work [Re-establishing pond] as being detrimental to the fragile wetlands.
1980 - The Furnace Town Foundation is formed. There is an admission of 50 cents to enter the property. (At this time, the main entrance was located on Old Furnace Road). Some restoration work is taking place on the furnace. Buildings are being relocated from other sites.
1982 - Glatfelter donates an additional 13.8 acres to Furnace Town. Native American artifacts are found on the site by novice archaeologist.
1986-1987 - Restoration work on furnace.
1988 - A Nature Conservancy Trail is created with its entrance at the bottom of the furnace.
1991 - The Furnace becomes a National Engineering Landmark.
1992-1993 - The charging ramp to the top of the furnace is rebuilt from donations and volunteers.
March 2024 - Restoration of the Furnace begins again.
