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Report an IssueUnderwood Furnace
1348
8 mi. E. of Smithland at Mint Springs Church, KY 70
Built 3/4 mile north in 1846-47 by James C. Sloo and Leonard White. It was a brick structure with a steam-powered air blast, using locally made charcoal fuel to produce pig iron from ore mined nearby. Iron was shipped by steamboat to fabricators. After 1848, operations were transferred to the neighboring Hopewell Furnace. See the other side.
Iron Made in Kentucky - A major producer since 1791, Ky. ranked 3rd in US in 1830s, 11th in 1965. Charcoal timber, native ore, limestone supplied material for numerous furnaces making pig iron, utensils, munitions in the Hanging Rock, Red River, Between Rivers, Rolling Fork, Green River Regions. Charcoal-furnace era ended in 1880s with depletion of ore and timber and use of modern methods. Over.