[TheForge] Re: Juanita Steel

Sun Jul 21 14:16:01 2002

Two books that may provide the information you are looking for are Blair
County's First Hundred Year's 1846 -1946 and Geology of Blair County. In
1855 there were in Blair County 14 furnaces, 12 forges, 1 rolling mill and 7
foundries. Rodman Furnace was built here in 1862 which supplied the iron for
the Rodman cannon's used in the Civil War. This area had all the requisites
needed for making iron; ore, limestone for flux, timber to make charcoal for
fuel and water for power.
  For those interested in the making of charcoal, Blair County's First
Hundred Year's 1846 -1946 has a brief description of the process. Wood was
cut into convenient lengths and piled in a rounded form on the ground, which
had been previously leveled for a diameter of about 40 feet . The wood pile
was then covered with earth, and a fire started in a hole or chimney left in
the center. Holes were made in the sides for draft . The secret of burning
was to give the fire just enough air to char the wood. If flames broke
through anywhere, they immediately covered that place with a shovel full of
earth.

Dillon Fabrication's
John Dillon
Morann, Pa.
[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
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Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2002 10:18 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [TheForge] Re: Juanita Steel

  Ambling thru Pa. yesturday on the way home from Touchstone Craft Center,
BTW the best blacksmith studio I have ever seen, I ran past three or four
historical markers titled 'Juanita Steel" since I rarely slow down, all I
could read by neck twisting was something about early steel production from
small charcoal furnaces using juanita creek iron sand. Does anyone know more
about this or where I can ge a reference?