Historical Marker

Nelson Furnace

Organized by William and Mordecai Miller and John Irwin in 1836. The blast furnace had two forty-foot pyramidal stone stacks with six-foot hearths. Output of iron in 1857 was 12 tons daily. The Civil War boom in iron brought the merger with Belmont Furnace, Bullitt County, in 1865. After nine years, Nelson and Belmont furnace closed down, 1874.

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. Erected in 1967.