Historical Marker

Pine Grove Furnace

Smallest blast furnace in Hanging Rock Iron Region, 17 feet high with a maximum inner diameter of six feet. Built 1881, six miles west, by Joseph Spriggs, who owned the land, and a sawmill operator named Sanders, whose steam engine drove the air blast. Produced only 26 tons of iron altogether. See other side. Marker presented by Armco Steel Corp.

(Reverse) Iron Made in Kentucky - A major producer since 1791, Ky. ranked 3rd in US in 1830s, 11th in 1965. Charcoal timber, native ore, limestone supplied material for numerous furnaces making pig iron, utensils, munitions in the Hanging Rock, Red River, Between Rivers, Rolling Fork, Green River Regions. Old charcoal furnace era ended by depletion of ore and timber and the growth of railroads.