Little Hunting Creek

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, October 21, 2021

1. Little Hunting Creek Marker

Inscription.
Most early industries used water to power simple machinery. Little Hunting Creek provided Catoctin Furnace with the renewable energy needed to power the waterwheel of the first furnace. The wheel’s power pumped the furnace bellows creating a blast of air that kept the smelting fire at a very high temperature (around 3000° F) needed to melt the ore. Later bellows were steam driven.

The Johnson Brothers dammed and redirected some of the creek. Water flow could be controlled and released with more energy down stone and earthen raceways. Other small industries, such as a grist mill also used water power from Little Hunting Creek.

Erected by Catoctin Furnace Historical Society. (Marker Number 1.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce.

Location. This marker has been replaced by another marker nearby. It was located near 39° 35.082′ N, 77° 26.172′ W. Marker was in Thurmont, Maryland, in Frederick County. It could be reached from Catoctin Mountain Highway. Touch for map. Marker was in this post office area: Thurmont MD 21788, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker was in the Washington Metropolitan Area

and in Central Maryland.

It was also in the American Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it was in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it found itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies

and also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location: A Creek Rediscovered (a few steps from this marker); Destruction and Renewal

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(within shouting distance of this marker); The Ingredients For Iron (within shouting distance of this marker); A Fractured Landscape (within shouting distance of this marker); Walk Through History (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Recreation For All (about 500 feet away); A Lost Pond (about 600 feet away); Waste Management (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Thurmont.

Other markers no longer nearby. Second Growth Forest (was a few steps from this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Slag Heaps (was about 600 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, October 21, 2021

2. Little Hunting Creek Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on May 18, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 25, 2021, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 372 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 25, 2021, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.