Sanford in Lee County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Endor Iron Works
Photographed by Michael Buckner, August 18, 2022
1. Endor Iron Works Marker
Large smelting furnace provided iron, 1862-65, to Confederacy. Reopened 1870 & ceased to operate 1896. Remains 1½ mi. NE.
Erected 1991 by North Carolina Division of Archives and History. (Marker Number H-102.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • War, US Civil.
Location. 35° 32.709′ N, 79° 14.392′ W. Marker is in Sanford, North Carolina, in Lee County. It is on Cumnock Road 0.3 miles north of U.S. 421, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 418 Cumnock Road, Sanford NC 27330, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Piedmont. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, 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 original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Egypt Coal Mine (here, next to this marker); Charles D. McIver (approx. 1.8 miles away); Coal Glen Mine Disaster (approx. 3.6 miles away); Buffalo Church (approx. 6.3 miles away); Lee County Court Bell (approx. 6.9 miles away); General Robert E. Lee (approx. 6.9 miles away); A.A.F Seawell (approx. 7.8 miles away); Granville Grant (approx. 9.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sanford.
Also see . . . Endor Furnace.
Endor Furnace, a large smelting furnace near Cumnock in(Submitted on January 21, 2023, by Michael Buckner of Durham, North Carolina.)Lee County, provided iron to the Confederacy from 1862 to 1865 and thereafter operated periodically through the end of the nineteenth century. Two months after chartering the company in 1862, the investors purchased the Deep River plantation of Alexander McIver and constructed the furnace on the site. The furnace probably supplied the Confederate arsenal at Fayetteville in addition to small nearby arms factories. In 1864 the Wilmington businessmen who composed the company sold their interests to local buyers. These individuals emerged from the war heavily in debt, and in 1870 their holdings were sold at auction. George Lobdell of Delaware, a manufacturer of railroad car wheels, bought Endor Furnace, paying $1,000. With his partner J. M. Heck of Raleigh, Lobdell formed the Cape Fear Iron and Steel Company and invested more than $500,000. By 1872 there was in place at the site one of the South's largest and best-equipped iron furnaces along with a rolling mill and foundry.
Click or scan to see
this page online
Photographed by Michael Buckner, August 18, 2022
2. Endor Iron Works Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on January 23, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 21, 2023, by Michael Buckner of Durham, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 490 times since then and 40 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 21, 2023, by Michael Buckner of Durham, North Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
