UPDATE: You must physically
visit this location to be able to log this as a find. Virtual
visits are not allowed.
The Maramec Iron Works was established near St. James, MO in
1826. Iron ore was mined in the hills nearby and smelted into crude
ingots called "pigs". Getting the iron pigs to markets in the east
proved to be something of a challenge. The Meramec River was far
too shallow for transporting heavy loads, and the Gasconade River
was only usable when flooded.
The answer was the Iron Road. Two ton loads of crude iron were
hauled 65 miles by teams of 8 to 16 oxen from St. James to the
confluence of Frene Creek with the Missouri River, where it could
be loaded onto steamboats and transported to St. Louis, Cincinnati,
Wheeling, and Pittsburgh.
When Hermann was founded at the mouth of Frene Creek in 1837, it
quickly began to benefit from the iron trade. Charles D. Eitzen,
one of the original settlers, soon got into the business of hauling
not only iron from the Maramec Iron Works but also pine timber from
the Ozark hills. He also owned a mercantile store in Hermann, and
sent the returning wagons south filled with dry goods and other
supplies. By the time the Iron Road stopped running in 1858, he was
a millionaire, and eventually willed $50,000 to the county for the
construction of a new courthouse, which is still in use to this
day.
The coordinates for this cache are for a commemorative marker
placed in 1986 by the Lion's Club as part of Hermann's
sesquicentennial celebration. To claim a find for this cache, look
around for another sign nearby recognizing "The Iron Landing". It
states that the original marker was placed on 5 Aug 1956. Email me
the ship number for the organization which placed it. Do not post
it here, even if encrypted.