Fairview in Williamson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Caney Fork Furnace
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, July 23, 2022
1. Caney Fork Furnace Marker
Inscription.
Caney Fork Furnace. . This stone stack marks the eastern-most site of a significant state industry that ran along the Western Highland Rim where 33 iron furnaces were in blast by 1847. Tennessee produced over 50,000 tons of pig iron by 1856, and often led the south in production before 1860. By 1832, Moses Speer was operating this industrial site on 2000 acres near the Caney Fork creek. Skilled and unskilled laborers including enslaved peoples worked under a hierarchy governed by the ironmaster. Speer's operation was economically unsuccessful, and the property soon defaulted to Rev. Thomas L. Douglass. The furnace was not in blast by 1848 or after when the property was sold by the heirs of Nicholas Perkins. The Rocky River Coal and Lumber Company bought the land in the 1920s for timber and the Harrison family farmed here beginning in the 1930s. The furnace stack survives as the county's only remnant of an industry that peaked in the 1850s and it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. , When in operation, the furnace would have looked much like its contemporary, Bear Spring Furnace in Stewart County, which was also put into blast in 1832.
This stone stack marks the eastern-most site of a significant state industry that ran along the Western Highland Rim where 33 iron furnaces were in blast by 1847. Tennessee produced over 50,000 tons of pig iron by 1856, and often led the south in production before 1860. By 1832, Moses Speer was operating this industrial site on 2000 acres near the Caney Fork creek. Skilled and unskilled laborers including enslaved peoples worked under a hierarchy governed by the ironmaster.
Speer's operation was economically unsuccessful, and the property soon defaulted to Rev. Thomas L. Douglass. The furnace was not in blast by 1848 or after when the property was sold by the heirs of Nicholas Perkins. The Rocky River Coal & Lumber Company bought the land in the 1920s for timber and the Harrison family farmed here beginning in the 1930s. The furnace stack survives as the county's only remnant of an industry that peaked in the 1850s and it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
When in operation, the furnace would have looked much like its contemporary, Bear Spring Furnace in Stewart County, which was also put into blast
Location. 35° 56.211′ N, 87° 6.679′ W. Marker is in Fairview, Tennessee, in Williamson County. It is on Caney Fork Road, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7544-7556 Caney Fork Rd, Fairview TN 37062, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Middle Tennessee and in Greater Nashville. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Triangle School
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, July 23, 2022
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, July 23, 2022
3. Front side of the furnace
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, July 23, 2022
4. Right side of the furnace
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, July 23, 2022
5. Rear side of the furnace
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, July 23, 2022
6. Left side of the furnace
Credits. This page was last revised on July 25, 2022. It was originally submitted on July 24, 2022, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. This page has been viewed 1,338 times since then and 93 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on July 24, 2022, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. • Mark Hilton was the editor who published this page.
