Cornwall Furnace (Cedar Bluff, Alabama) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Cornwall Furnace
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Cornwall Furnace
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 Location in Alabama
Location in the United States
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| Location | 2 miles (3.2 km) N of Cedar Bluff |
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| Nearest city | Cedar Bluff, Alabama |
| Built | 1863 |
| Architect | Noble Brothers |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000158 |
| Added to NRHP | September 27, 1972 |
Cornwall Furnace is an old iron-making factory near Cedar Bluff, Alabama in Cherokee County. It was built a long time ago by the Noble Brothers. This furnace made iron products for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. It played an important role in history.
Contents
What Does Cornwall Furnace Look Like?
The furnace is shaped like a pyramid. It is about 30 feet (9.1 m) wide at the bottom and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide at the top. It stands tall at about 45 feet (14 m) high.
The furnace was built using large blocks of hematite. This is a type of iron ore. The blocks were dug from Dirt Cellar Mountain and brought to the site by ox carts. This trip was about three miles (4.8 km) long.
To make the furnace work, a water wheel was needed. Water from the Chattooga River flowed through a long channel called a mill race. This channel was about half a mile (0.8 km) long. The water powered the wheel, which then blew air into the furnace. This air blast helped the iron melt.
Iron ore was loaded into the top of the furnace from a bridge. This bridge connected the nearby hillside to the furnace stack. There was also a gristmill (for grinding grain) and a sawmill (for cutting wood) at the site.
History of Cornwall Furnace
Building the Furnace for the Civil War
James Noble, Sr., and his five sons started a company called Noble Brothers foundry in Rome, Georgia, in 1855. In 1862, the Confederate States of America asked them to build two new furnaces. In return, the Noble Brothers would get cannons, caissons, and other war supplies.
Building the Cornwall Furnace started soon after. About 1,000 Confederate soldiers and enslaved people from nearby farms helped with the construction.
How the Furnace Operated
The furnace began making iron in late 1862 or early 1863. To heat the furnace, charcoal was brought from farms nearby. The water from the Chattooga River powered the air blast.
The furnace made pig iron ingots. These were large blocks of iron. They were sent to the Noble Brothers' foundry in Rome. There, the iron was used to make materials for the war. In 1864, soldiers from the Union Army stopped the furnace from working. It stayed out of production for the rest of the war.
After the War
After the Civil War, the furnace started working again in 1867. But it was shut down for good in 1874. A famous speaker named Samuel Porter Jones worked at the furnace for a while after the war. He drove an ox cart. Over the next 100 years, the land where the furnace stands was owned by different people.
Saving Cornwall Furnace
In 1972, Cornwall Furnace was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This list helps protect important historical sites. In 1975, the Cherokee County Commission bought the furnace and about 5 acres (2.0 hectares) of land around it. They got help from the Alabama Historical Commission and the Cherokee County Historical Society.
The commission turned the site into a park. The park officially opened in 1977. Today, Cornwall Furnace is part of the Civil War Discovery Trail. This trail connects important places from the Civil War.
See also
In Spanish: Horno Cornwall para niños
