Vesuvius Furnace and the Hanging Rock Iron Region
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Vesuvius Furnace is located in the Lake Vesuvius State Park, which
is part of the Wayne National Forest. The coordinates are for a
parking lot that is directly across the road from the
site.
Vesuvius Furnace:
The Vesuvius Iron Furnace was one of 46 blast furnaces located in
the southern Ohio Hanging Rock Iron region. Hematite (iron ore)
mined in surrounding hills and valleys was used to produce pig iron
from 1833 to 1906. By the early 1900's, the nation’s focus had
turned to steel manufacturing. The new interest in steel combined
with the newly discovered iron veins in the Great Lakes area
completely devastated iron production in southern Ohio. What
remains of the Vesuvius furnace is the main stack, the retaining
wall, a piece of sow iron, and a large chunk of unbroken slag.
Pieces of slag can be found all along the creek beds and hillsides
surrounding the Vesuvius ruins. The removal of any slag is
prohibited.
Blast Furnaces:
A blast furnace is a type of furnace used for the smelting (melting
and fusing) of iron ore to produce pig iron. Pig iron is an
intermediate product used for the production of iron and steel. In
a blast furnace, fuel and ore are continuously supplied through the
top of the furnace, while air (sometimes with oxygen enrichment) is
blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical
reactions take place throughout the furnace as the material moves
downward. The end products are usually molten metal and slag (waste
material), which are tapped from the bottom, with gases exiting
through the top of the furnace stack. Supervisors could
differentiate between the molten iron and the slag, and readily
diverted the slag to a side opening where it was broken up and
disposed or recycled.
Pig Iron:
The type of iron produced at these furnaces was given the nickname
pig iron because of its appearance during the molding and cooling
process. The molten iron was poured into a mold with a large
central runner, from which several spurs emptied into smaller
oblong areas. The workers said that it looked like piglets suckling
on sow. The large central piece was called sow iron, and the
smaller ingots (pieces of cast metal) were called pig iron. A large
piece of sow iron is on display at Vesuvius. It sits on the ground
just to the right of the historical marker.
Excavating and Burning the Ore:
Iron ore (hematite), was abundant in the Hanging Rock Iron Region.
There were three main layers available: one that was close to the
surface, another layer that could be found on the cliff sides or on
a washout, and a layer that was deeper in the ground over a layer
of limestone. The ore in this region was only about 30-40% iron.
Modern day furnaces use ore that is 70-85% iron. In order to
improve the quality of the ore, it was "burned". When the burn was
complete, the ashes were raked for the burned ore. This process
(calcination) removed 16% of the volatile matter. The plentiful
forests surrounding the furnace provided the fuel supply. The men
who made the charcoal, known as colliers, cut wood to size, and
place it in pits. The pile was ignited and then covered with earth
to prevent it from burning to ash. The burning process took about a
week and required great attention and skill. Colliers were some of
the best-paid workers at the furnace. The charcoal was then
transported to the furnace by wagons and stored on site. The
furnace needed a substantial amount of fuel to smelt the iron;
requiring the charcoal made from two acres of land per day.
The charcoal and iron were put into the furnace in layers, the
charcoal providing heat as well as reducing the iron oxide to iron.
The iron was poured into molds on the floor of the casting house.
The pig iron was transported to nearby forges to be manufactured
into wrought iron. The molten iron was also directly cast into a
variety of other goods such as pots, stoves, skillets for home use,
as well as gears, cogs, and cams for machinery.
Hanging Rock’s Iron History:
From about 1825 to 1910, the Hanging Rock Iron Region produced the
majority of iron within the United States. The iron of the region
was excavated rather than mined, and the hills were rich with
limestone and hardwoods, both essential in the smelting of iron.
Numerous small furnace sites sprung up throughout the region, each
supporting hundreds of workers and their families. These furnaces
were the hubs of small “furnace towns” which were similar to the
coal camps of Appalachia. Along with workhouses, stockyards and
other industry-related structures, each community had a
schoolhouse, a church, a cemetery, and a company store.
Ohio State Route 93 is the hotbed of the Hanging Rock Iron Region.
Ten furnaces were located along this route in Lawrence County.
Around 1849, the DT&I Railroad was built, connecting Detroit,
Toledo, and Ironton. This made transporting the iron much easier
and much more cost-efficient. Remains of the railroad can be seen
along Rt. 93. Abandoned spurs wind through the valleys, which once
connected the furnaces to the main line. The ruins of two other
furnaces (Etna & Pioneer) are located in the Lawrence County
section of the Wayne National Forest.
Requirements for Logging This Cache:
Take a picture of you & your GPSr with the Vesuvius Furnace
somewhere in the background (if you are caching solo, a hand shot
will be fine), and e-mail me the answers to the following
questions:
1) According to the historical marker, how may tons of iron was
produced at Vesuvius Furnace per day?
2) To the right of the historical marker is a piece of sow iron.
Estimate the length and width of this large ingot.
3) To the left of the furnace sits a large piece of unbroken slag.
Estimate the length and width of this waste material.
Upload your picture with your log. Failure to e-mail me the
correct answers and/or failure to provide a picture will result in
the deletion of your log.
Please take time to visit the Wayne National Forest’s Ironton
District Office, which is located on Rt. 93, just north of the
entrance to Lake Vesuvius. In the office, there is a model of the
Vesuvius Furnace as it looked during its days of operation.
Special thanks to Forestry Technician Scott Means for approving
this Earthcache.
Resources:
http://www.oldeforester.com/ironintr.htm,
http://www.irontonfurnaces.com,
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/wayne/,
“Iron Furnaces in the Wayne National Forest," a pamphlet available
at the WNF Ironton District Office.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)