CAM 2014 - Joppa Iron Works Relics Traditional Cache
CAM 2014 - Joppa Iron Works Relics
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This is one of ten caches placed for the 2014 Cache Across Maryland. Each location was picked specifically to give cachers a taste of the state and show you its beauty. By combining all ten, you'll be able to see why Maryland is truly "America in Miniature". We hope you enjoy them!
Since the days of Maryland being a British colony, Baltimore County has hosted a thriving iron-processing industry. Indeed, from 1731 until the Sparrows Point steel facility closed in June of 2012, Baltimore County has constantly had active iron-processing facilities. One 17th century example is Ashland Iron Furnace which was featured in geocache CAM 2010 – Ashland Iron Furnace.
This CAM 2014 cache is hidden at the site of a lesser known piece of history called Joppa Iron Works. Once taking up both the north and south sides of the Big Gunpowder River near an area that used to be called the Long Calm Ford section of the river, Joppa Iron Works was started by Joseph and Edward Patterson in 1817 and operated until circa 1865. At the time, they were one of the most extensive iron-working plants in the state and produced 40,000 kegs of nails around the mid-17th century. At the time, before Loch Raven Reservoir was dammed in 1881, much more water flowed in the Big Gunpowder River and seaworthy vessels of 70 to 80 tons made it up the river to purchase nails from Joppa Iron Works.
If you follow the trail along the river’s edge, when it starts to go uphill past the CSX bridge (formerly B&O Railroad, built in 1883), you will find the remains of an old puddling furnace (built after August 1832), at N 39° 24.751 W 076° 23.681, when a fire consumed the whole factory.
This furnace was used to remelt pig iron, and the molten output was likely smashed by a water-powered hammer, which would remove the fluid slag (byproduct) and allow the steel to be rolled into rough bars. If you walk along enough trails, you may even find some of these bars.
After it was made into bars, it would be wheeled across a bridge to the other side of the river where it was flattened and made into nails. If you look closely around the furnace remains, you’ll find piles of slag.
Along the rocks by the river, you’ll see steel rods and an eye bolt and holes bored in the rock which used to support the bridge to cross to the other side. On the other side, there are even less remnants of Joppa Iron Works as it was taken over by a handful of distilleries which were in production up until 1958.
From after Labor Day until April 30, parking is available at the Jones Road lot just off of Route 40 at N 39 24.784 W 076 23.266. Follow the blue-blazed trail. Once you pass the railroad bridge, take the low road if it’s not flooded, and find the aforementioned ruins. Once you’ve seen the ruins of the puddling furnace, find the trail, and follow 50 feet or so through the woods. There are a lot of thorns and loose rock to tend with, but the area where the cache is hidden was likely a storage area for bars of pig iron. If you follow through the woods, you can find more of these areas and more old stone walls. Please replace the bricks that are used to disguise the opening in the stone wall where the cache is hidden.
This hide was placed with permission from the Maryland DNR and is only available from sunrise to sundown. Please no night caching!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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