There is a rich history of iron making in this part of Maryland because all of the key ingredients were available here--iron-rich rocks for ore, limestone for flux, abundant trees for charcoal, and water for energy.The Catoctin Furnace Historical Society sponsors an annual iron festival to celebrate this heritage. The festival centers around the furnace and the surrounding village, and is adjacent to Cunningham Falls State Park. The Catoctin Iron Furnace was completed in 1775 and was active until 1903. The early furnace made cannon balls for the Revolutionary War.
We only learned about the festival this year from Wally, so Sunday afternoon, we decided to see what it was about.
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| We took the Iron Trail from the State Park parking lot to get to the festival's central area. |
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| There was a nice path through the woods that followed Hunter's Creek, |
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| And sometimes crossed over it. Along the way, interpretive signs talked about different aspects of the iron-making business at Catoctin. |
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| At the end of the trail were the remains of Iron Master's Mansion, built around 1785. This was the beginning of the Catoctin Iron Workers Village. |
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| We got a tour of Harriet Chapel. It was built in 1828 as a non-denominational church meeting house for the iron workers. In 1833, it became an Episcopal church and is still active today. |
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This was the collier's house. (A collier made charcoal for the furnace.) Other houses have been restored for historical purposes, and some people live in others. A major highway passes through the village. For the festival, the highway was closed to traffic.
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| This furnace was built in 1857 and is called the Isabella stack. |
We explored more buildings and a museum, and had an interesting talk with the head of the historic association. She is an archaeologist and quite passionate about the project. One thing that was made very clear throughout the area was the amount of enslaved labor used here. There is an African American Cemetery that the organization is planning to buy and give to the state so it can be preserved.
The weather was beautiful for our outing, and it was just the kind of outing we like. We got to hike through some beautiful woods and learn a little history. We almost didn't go, but we were glad we did.
Until next time...
