Sometimes people come to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and they aren’t hikers.  They ask what they can drive to.  The Pinnacle is the first place we send them, but the second place is the Iron Furnace.

The Iron Furnace is the oldest man-made structure in the park.  It is located in the town of Cumberland Gap and used to be one of the primary employers, back in the early 1800’s.  On his historic journey through the gap in 1750, Dr. Thomas Walker made note of a spring coming from a cave. In his journal he noted that “the spring is sufficient to turn a mill.” In 1819, a blast furnace was built on the stream below the cave, now known as Gap Cave. Large, sandstone blocks were used from nearby.  Fire brick was used to line the inside of the furnace which was used to smelt iron.

Iron ore was mined nearby, limestone was added in the process, and firewood was made into charcoal for use as fuel. Water from the stream powered large bellows and a massive hammer mill.  Each day 625 bushels of charcoal (approximately 52 trees), 6 1/4 tons of iron ore, and 1,563 pounds of limestone were used to produce approximately 3 tons of iron. The furnace, which was known as Newlee’s Iron Furnace, operated throughout the 1800’s. Some of the iron was sold to local blacksmiths. Some of the iron was shipped in the form of ingots or “pigs” down the Powell River to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In 1870, the foundry group consisted of the blast furnace itself, a casting shed, a storehouse to the north, and a 30′ overshot water wheel to power the blast machinery.  The foundry and buildings were used for ammunition storage for a part of the Civil War. This foundry is considered one of the last examples of a cold-blast charcoal furnace.

The Iron Furnace is interesting, although it doesn’t take long to see.  The furnace is an easy walk along a paved path from the parking lot.  The most interesting thing that goes on at the Iron Furnace is Furnace Fridays, when Tom talks to people who visit the furnace about its history.  Gap Creek, which still runs next to the furnace, is an inviting place to stop and rest or play for a while.