Laurel Furnace
Inscription
Built 4 miles west by George and Samuel Wurts in 1849. The bottom half of the stack, originally 39 feet high, is carved from one block of stone cliff. The maximum inner diameter is 101/2 feet. It made 2150 tons of iron in 31 weeks of 1855, consuming 376,250 bushels of charcoal fuel. The last blast was in 1874. See other side. Marker presented by Armco Steel Corp.
[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. Old charcoal furnace era ended by depletion of ore and timber and the growth of railroads. See over.
Location
Sources
More markers in Greenup
Camp Swigert
Wurtland, KY
Union Civil War training camp was organized Dec. 12, 1861.
E.K. Railway - Hunnewell
Hunnewell, KY
Development of Greenup’s iron resources in the mid-1800s relied heavily on the E. K. Railway and its extension near the Greenup furnace.
Mc Connell House Complex
Wurtland, KY
John M. McConnell moved from Pa.
E.K. Railway
Argillite, KY
Development of this area's rich coal, iron, and timber resources began 1867 when Eastern Kentucky Railway laid track from Ohio River to...
Greenup Association of Baptists
KY 207, KY
In the log meeting house of Palmyra Baptist Church, once located near here, Greenup Assoc.