These are ruins of the iron master’s home at old Catoctin Furnace near Cunningham Falls State Park, Maryland; as seen near dusk yesterday.
The first furnace was built in 1774 by Thomas Johnson and his brothers, and produced pig iron from locally mined hematite. Two years later it was making cannon balls for the American Revolution. At its peak the operation employed 300 woodcutters who harvested over 11,000 acres of surrounding forests to provide fuel for the furnace over its lifespan.
In 1873 the furnace was converted to burn coal, and forests began to reclaim a once-beautiful area. It really is hard to imagine how severe the surrounding landscape must have looked back then, but the bleakness of this old ruin holds a hint. It’s almost as if nature is taking its last revenge on what remains of an environmentally devastating enterprise, that nonetheless played a key role in the American Revolution and later, the economy of this region. Thank heavens for the State Park and National Park systems that have protected these places and allowed the forests to return.
