Paducah Furnace

Historical marker location:

Paducah, Kentucky

( 3rd & Norton, Paducah)

Built here 1889 by Paducah Iron Co., 70 ft. high with a maximum inner diameter of 14 ft. Rated annual capacity 30,000 tons of iron, using coke fuel. Operations began in 1900, smelting ore from Lyon, Trigg, Livingston counties in Ky., and from Missouri. It was in blast intermittently until 1903, when the furnace ruptured. Razed 1907. See the other side.

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. Charcoal-furnace era ended in 1880s with depletion of ore and timber and use of modern methods.

Iron Industry Paducah