Geography of Ohio 141 



1832 Clyde Furnace, Madison, Lake Co Clyde Co 1838 



1832 Elj'ria Furnace, Elyria, Lorain Co Herman Eh- (bog ore) 1835 



1832 ConneautFjrnace,Conneaut, Ashtabula Co. Bog ore 



1832 Elyria Forge, Elyria, Lorain Co Norton and Barnum 



1831 Dover Furnace, Dover, Cuyahoga Co Cuyahoga Steam Furnace 



Co. (bog ore) 



1834 Vermillion Furnace, Florence, Huron Co. . .Geauga Iron Co. (bog ore). 1810 



1835 Mill Creek Furnace, Youngstown, Mahoning 



Co Owned by Dan Grier 1850 



1835 Middleburgh Furnace, Berea, Cuyahoga Co.D. Griffiths and Co 1850 



1836 La Grange Furnace, Ironton, Lawrence Co. Ohio Iron and Coal Co. . . .1856 

 1840 Akron Furnace, Akron. Summit Co Ford, Tod and Rhodes. . . . 1855 



Early methods. For several decades the reduction of iron ore 

 depended upon charcoal; limestone for flux was abundant in the 

 neighborhood of most furnaces. The heavily forested areas 

 supplied timber for making charcoal; in some parts of the state 

 the forests were removed anyhow to make way for farms. In 

 the rougher sections of the state, the deforested lands were of 

 little or no account. The use of charcoal in reducing iron ores has 

 always been expensive, if one has consideration for future genera- 

 tions. It has been estimated that to run one blast furnace a 

 year requires 13,000 cords of wood, which represents the timber 

 of 325 to 350 acres.- Another estimate shows that to furnish a 

 constant supply for one blast furnace, from four thousand to 

 five thousand acres of woodland is necessary. Even this, to 

 insure a stable supply, would necessitate taking much care of the 

 second growth. The expensiveness of this process appealed to 

 early workers. Air. C. Briggs, an assistant geologist of our first 

 survey, in 1838, in connection with his report on the iron ores, 

 commented on the preservation of our forests.^ 



It became evident early that the supply of wood for charcoal 

 would give out, thus putting an end to the reduction of the iron 

 ores. Many of these furnaces were in the neighborhood of coal 

 veins but the raw coal had not been tried. Necessity, however, 

 forced a furnace owner either to abandon his plant or to experi- 

 ment on this possible fuel. Consequently in August, 1846, at 

 Lowville, in Mahoning County, ''rock coal," as it was called, 

 was first used in the raw condition in this state. It proved fairly 



2 Ibid., p. 483. 



^ Geological Survey of the State of Ohio, First Aiuiunl Rep. (1838), p. 93. 



