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Village of Furnace Town |
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Explore the town
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The Nassawango Iron
Furnace was started in 1829 near Snow Hill, MD. The Village of
Furnace Town developed in support of smelting iron. Today this is
a view of the village as it was then.
The furnace produced pig iron from
1831 until 1850. For a while the furnace flourished and became a
center of commerce for the area. The surrounding village of about
300 men, women and children was self-supporting and included a
post office, church, boarding house and Company Store. In addition
to ironworkers, many skilled artisans were employed either by the
Furnace Company or in the service of the town. Unfortunately,
better iron ore was found in the Great Lakes area and coke
replaced charcoal as fuel. As desirable raw materials moved west,
Furnace Town could not compete and went into bankruptcy in 1850.
For a complete history go to A Brief History of Nassawango Iron.
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Furnace Town is open seven days a week from 10 am to 5 pm between April 1 and October 31
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