Underground Railroad: Vesuvius Furnace

Iron Furnaces, which converted iron ore to pig iron, dotted the northeastern landscape prior to the 19th century. At the turn of the century, the industry developed in the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio and Kentucky which became the largest iron producer in the US. The Hanging Rock region produced iron from 1818 to 1916 and was one of three in the country capable of producing the iron needed during the Civil War.

Not long after the war, the iron boom in Hanging Rock ceased. Hanging Rock’s Vesuvius Furnace, located on today’s Wayne National Forest, is a remnant of 1 of the 46 furnaces in the region. The iron boom brought in workers who often lived in company towns.

Company towns compensated workers with company “money” that could be used only within the town. Ironmasters owned the furnaces and managed company towns. Ironmasters tended to be abolitionists and often provided support to the Underground Railroad as conductors or station masters.

Furnaces and the connecting company towns provided safe havens and financial aid for freedom seekers. Several of the routes used by individuals escaping slavery were along the same paths of Ohio’s iron furnaces. Black Fork settlement, an iron company town located in Lawrence County, Ohio, employed mostly African Americans, some escaped slaves.

However, Black Fork was not a common iron company town; most only served as stations on the Underground Railroad - like Vesuvius - instead of final destinations.