Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Furnace Town - Snow Hill, Maryland

Furnace Town Living Heritage Museum
Old Furnace Road
Snow Hill, Maryland
410.632.2032

The Nassawango Iron Furnace was started in 1829 and the village of Furnace Town developed in support of its production of pig iron. As the furnace became a center of commerce for the area, the surrounding village of about 300 men, women and children was self-supporting and included a post office, church, boarding house and Company Store. In addition to ironworkers, many skilled artisans were employed either by the Furnace Company or in the service of the town. However, better iron ore was found in the Great Lakes area and coke replaced charcoal as fuel. Furnace Town could not compete and went into bankruptcy in 1850. The village today reflects the heyday of this former factory town.

No comments:

Post a Comment