Big Lick, Cripple Creek and Rye Valley Iron: History of Mining, Smelting and Transporting Iron in the S. W. Virginia Counties of Bland, Carroll, ... Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wythe

Few people know of the significant contribution made by southwestern Virginia to the iron history of Virginia and the nation. Southwestern Virginia is part of the 300 mile long valley sandwiched between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains and extends from Front Royal in the north to Bristol in the south. While this area lacked the early river transportation infrastructure enjoyed by the other iron-producing regions of the valley, it contained one of he richest deposits of iron found in Virginia. Once the Norfolk & Western Railway was established, iron was mined and smelted in prodigious amounts. Twenty-four charcoal furnaces operated in the region before the Civil War and twenty-six were in blast after the conflict, including ten hot-blast coke furnaces capable of producing over 100 tons of iron per day. From the beginning of the iron era, which utilized small bloomery forges, to the end when the mammoth coke furnaces were king, southwestern Virginia had contributed to the Virginia iron age for over 150 years. The iron histories of Bland, Carroll, Craig, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Roanoke, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Washington and Wythe counties are included in this 340 page book along with 130 maps, diagrams and pictures. Also described are the use of bloomery forges during the early settlement of southwestern Virginia, the development of transportation used to ship iron materials, how the charcoal and coke furnaces worked, the effects of the Civil War and Great Boom on iron production, formation of consortia including the Virginia Iron, Coal and Coke Company, construction of railroads used to reach the iron deposits and extraction of iron ores from the ground. Over forty-five iron furnaces are described and numerous iron mines are detailed. The book also concludes with an examination of the future of iron production for the region. Read more