Sources and Evidence

Story One

1 — Feeding the Furnace

What the evidence tells us

Records place the furnace’s construction in 1839, with a temporary shutdown in 1857. Operations resumed in 1873, but its final blast came just two years later, in 1875. Remains of the stone stack still stand at the furnace site.

Where we made educated guesses

The workers, weather, buildings, and furnace recharging are imagined. The temperature is an estimate from comparable charcoal furnaces.

Sources

NRHP working draft Version 7, Sections 7–8, notes 6–9 and 14; KAS Report No. 309 (2021), Chapter 3 and furnace-site discussion, printed pp. 135–144. Date and operating conditions follow the agreed 1873 reconstruction.

For comparable charcoal-furnace temperatures: National Park Service, Hopewell Furnace teaching resource (2,600–3,000°F).

Story Two

2 — Inside the Fire

What the evidence tells us

The remains of a stone foundation located near the furnace provide clues to the charging area. It’s where raw materials were mixed and dropped into the furnace. Ironmaking used ore, charcoal, limestone, and a forced-air blast.

Where we made educated guesses

The exact appearance of the wooden ramp and platform is unknown. The restored timber charging/support building behind the furnace is also an educated reconstruction. There is evidence of retaining stones and charging-area piers, but these do not establish that building’s exact design or function.

Sources

KAS Report No. 309 (2021), printed pp. 135–136, Figures 7.47–7.48; Version 7, Section 7.

Story Three

3 — Mining the Ore

Evidence and limits

Iron deposits, prospecting trenches and mining are documented in the Clear Creek Furnace industrial complex. The depicted ridgetop setting follows an explanation from a USFS archaeologist familiar with the site. The simulation includes a small, distant scar atop a ridge west of Clear Creek. Its appearance and position are for display only; it does not represent a known iron ore mine.

Sources

KAS Report 309 (2021), printed pp. 44–45 and 55, “Mining the Iron Ore,” discusses Bath and Menifee ore deposits, prospecting pits, shallow trench mining, local limestone quarrying and haulage by mules or oxen. Page 55 also records historic prospecting/mining trenches and an ore-hauling road associated with Clear Creek Furnace.

Story Four

4 — Baking Charcoal

What the evidence tells us

Charcoal production is recorded in the wider landscape. Charcoal, which burned hot and left little ash to contaminate the molten iron, provided both heat and the chemistry needed to extract iron from ore.

Where we made educated guesses

The cutting and burning locations are imagined. Point of Interest #4 represents charcoal making; it does not mark the proven location of an excavated charcoal hearth.

Sources

KAS Report No. 309 (2021), Chapter 3, charcoal-production discussion and associated site descriptions; Version 7, Landscape and Archaeological Evidence. Marker 4 denotes a topic and landscape zone rather than a surveyed hearth.

Story Five

5 — Making a Home

What the evidence tells us

An 1866 survey depicts three main dwellings on the east side of the creek. Chimney remains and household artifacts support residential use nearby.

Where we made educated guesses

Individual house designs, their occupants in 1873, and privy locations are uncertain. Segregated housing for enslaved Black workers before the Civil War was likely.

Sources

KAS Report No. 309 (2021), printed pp. 39–40 and residential-site discussions; Knudsen, “Test Excavations at the Clear Creek Iron Furnace,” printed pp. 134 and 136. The survey is schematic, not a precise building-location plan.

Story Six

6 — An “Iron Plantation”

What the evidence tells us

The Kentucky Archaeological Survey confirms enslaved labor within the Clear Creek industrial complex. The enslaved workforce in Bath County was very large, ensuring a plentiful supply of laborers for hire. Census documents also confirm that both original owners enslaved Black Americans.

Where we made educated guesses

Individual workers, their assignments, and the hiring arrangements made with their enslavers are unverified. Such enslavement ended by 1865, well before the 1873 scene depicted in this app.

Sources

Version 7, Section 8, Enslaved Labor, notes 5, 7 and 11; KAS public interpretation at https://archaeology.ky.gov/Find-a-Site/Pages/Clear-Creek-Furnace.aspx.

Story Seven

7 — Wagons, Roads and Horse Power

What the evidence tells us

Historic road remnants have been identified by modern archaeologists, and an 1866 survey identifies a wagon-maker’s shop and stables.

Where we made educated guesses

The pictured animals, loads, and specific trips are imagined. Maysville, which was home to a co-owner in the Clear Creek industrial complex, is a potential market for its iron ore.

Sources

Kentucky Archaeological Survey Report No. 309 (2021), printed pp. 39–40 and road-remnant discussion; Version 7, Transportation, Suppliers, and Potential Markets, notes 7, 12 and 20.

Story Eight

8 — Casting Iron Pigs

What the evidence tells us

Sand suitable for making molds and iron splashes west of the furnace support the presence of a casting area. Sand channels and attached molds are part of a sow-and-pig arrangement, a common feature of antebellum ironmaking.

Where we made educated guesses

The casting shed’s location and appearance, along with the workers shown, are educated guesses.

Sources

KAS Report No. 309 (2021), printed p. 44 for casting practice and pp. 135–144 for site evidence, especially the casting-shed discussion on p. 144.

Story Nine

9 — Water, Steam and a “Blast” of Air

What the evidence tells us

Historical descriptions mention water power, boilers, and steam engines used to power bellows that provided the blast.

Where we made educated guesses

The waterwheel-powered supply pump feeding a holding tank is conjectural. The tank would provide a reliable supply of water for the boiler and its steam engine.

Sources

Knudsen’s 1980 report and published excavation account, printed p. 131; KAS Report No. 309 (2021), printed p. 36, cautions that the source of the machinery measurements is unclear. Waterwheel pumping is a period-compatible interpretation, not site-specific evidence.

For comparable charcoal-furnace temperatures: National Park Service, Hopewell Furnace teaching resource (2,600–3,000°F).

Story Ten

10 — Blacksmiths, Wheelwrights and Wainwrights

What the evidence tells us

The 1866 survey identifies a blacksmith shop, wagon-maker’s shop and stables on the west bank of Clear Creek.

Where we made educated guesses

The buildings’ exact positions, appearance, equipment, and continued use in 1873 are inferred. A 2021 archaeological report says the three west-bank buildings were not found there and suggests their reported positions were incorrect. Possible workshop remains were found within the furnace site (p. 145).

Sources

KAS Report No. 309 (2021), printed pp. 39–40, Figures 3.3–3.4. The report expressly cautions that the survey’s building symbols are representational and not necessarily in their exact locations.

Story Eleven

11 — Scales and a Company Store

What the evidence tells us

The 1866 survey names a store and scales. Excavations near residential remains recovered broken pottery, container glass, buttons and suspender fasteners.

Where we made educated guesses

The store’s stock, payment practices, and continued use in 1873 are conjectured. While the presence of a company store would make sense, household goods found in a cellar are not definitive proof. In addition, some artifacts date from after the furnace closed.

Sources

KAS Report No. 309 (2021), printed pp. 39–40, general furnace-support discussion on p. 44, and earlier-investigation summary. Version 7, Historic Context and Archaeological Evidence.

KAS Report No. 309 (2021), printed pp. 43–44 and 163, describes the residential finds and their date range.

Story Twelve

12 — Riverborne Deliveries

Evidence and limits

River transport was common, the Licking River flowed nearby, and a neighboring iron furnace featured a flatboat landing. However, Clear Creek river shipments, the location of any river landing it used, and the actual travel time are not well established.

Sources

Worksheet revised October 12, 2026. KAS Report 309, printed pp. 35–36, identifies Cincinnati and Louisville as shipping destinations for regional pig iron but does not establish a particular Clear Creek flatboat voyage.

Story Thirteen

13 — Market Bound

Evidence and limits

Covered storage was a good management practice and was found at other iron furnaces. However, such a shelter with wooden sleepers at Clear Creek Furnace is unconfirmed.

Sources

Gerald Eggert, Penn State, “Where Do Little Pig Irons Come From?” describes pigs weighing well over 50 pounds and stacked in the casting house: https://www.engr.psu.edu/mtah/essays/pigiron.htm. KAS Report 309, p. 144, supports a casting shed west of the stack, not a separate storage warehouse.

Story Fourteen

14 — Creek or Sewer?

Evidence and limits

Bath County’s 1870 mortality schedule lists typhoid deaths. The illness can spread through water or food contaminated by infected human feces. Physicians had linked typhoid to contaminated water, but their conclusions were still disputed in 1873. Slag is documented around the furnace, but there are no reports of industrial pollutants, and human waste in Clear Creek is unreported.

Sources

Bath County 1870 mortality schedule transcription, Shauna Williams, Genealogy Trails (deaths June 1869–May 1870); CDC, “About Typhoid Fever and Paratyphoid Fever”; William Budd, Typhoid Fever: Its Nature, Mode of Spreading, and Prevention (1873), reviewed in Nature 9, 280 (12 February 1874), doi:10.1038/009280a0; KAS Report 309 (2021), printed p. 144, slag-disposal evidence.

Bath County 1870 mortality schedule transcription. A nearby-year record, not a count for 1873; original entries should be checked before using individual names.

CDC: typhoid transmission

Nature’s 1874 review of William Budd’s 1873 book. Documents the water-and-waste explanation and contemporary disagreement.

The well noted on campground plans in KAS Report 309, printed p. 94, could be a gas or water well; it was not linked to the historic occupation. No furnace-era privies have been identified in the reports checked for this project.

Story Fifteen

15 — The Furnace Goes Cold

Evidence and limits

Clear Creek reopened in 1873 and closed in 1875. Regional decline is linked to shipping costs, falling prices, and competition. Some earlier Clear Creek ore samples had phosphorus and sulfur contaminants.

Sources

KAS Report 309 (2021), printed pp. 35–36; Robert Peter, Fourth Chemical Report in Kentucky Geological Survey (1861), printed pp. 63–67, especially pp. 66–67; Penn State Coal and Coke Heritage Center; NPS HAER PA-651, Blast Furnace Study. Pittsburgh used coke and ore from several regions; this is not proof that all Pennsylvania ore was purer or that Pittsburgh alone caused the closure.

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Recreating 1873

The muddy yard, wagon ruts, ash, charcoal dust, scattered refuse, standing water, and cloudier creek were common sights in a working industrial landscape. Slag disposal around the furnace is documented; the amount, location and water conditions shown are reconstructed. Possible pollutants in Clear Creek are undefined.

The furnace’s broad, tapered stone stack, large masonry courses, and flat-topped opening follow modern photographs of the surviving structure. Restored upper masonry, the charging bridge, sheds, and machinery are reconstructions.

The broad, nearly level working yard follows the floodplain description in KAS Report 309, printed p. 135. The archival furnace photographs reproduced on printed p. 37 (Figures 3.1–3.2) demonstrate an open setting. The report also describes a rear slope, retaining wall, and flattened charging area; we represent these with a modest charging terrace.

The photographs show the surviving ruin, not the operating complex in 1873, and no exact 1873 grading is established. The timber support building behind the furnace sits at the reconstructed charging level, connected to the bridge; its roof, walls, and particular purpose are inferred.

The 1866 survey (printed pp. 38–40, Figures 3.3–3.4) identifies a furnace, scales, store, three major dwellings, blacksmith shop, wagon-maker’s shop, and stables. An 1884 Bath County atlas maps 20 structures after the furnace closed.

Clear-cutting illustrates charcoal’s demand for timber, but its extent and location are artistic choices. The iron shelter and sleepers, departing wagon, creek-side water pump, tank, dam, and millrace are informed assumptions. The live camera/GPS experience is reserved for a later phase.

Robert Peter’s 1861 chemical report, printed pp. 63–67, analyzes ores identified with Clear Creek. Carbonate samples 787–789 had excessive phosphorus and sulfur (p. 67); selected richer ores, properly fluxed, could make good, tough iron (p. 66). Pittsburgh furnaces used coke made from bituminous coal and mixtures of ore from several regions.

Kentucky Geological Survey, Fourth Report (1861), Chemical Report, pp. 63–67

NPS / HAER PA-651, Blast Furnace Study, section “The Pittsburgh Model and the Industry Response, 1872–1879.”

Penn State, Coal and Coke Heritage Center

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, railroad history

Penn State, historical pig iron casting and storage

KAS Report 309, pp. 35–36, connects the regional decline to shipping costs and falling iron prices, then competitors’ cheaper fuel and railway access. It records Clear Creek’s revival in 1873 and closure in 1875; it does not identify Pittsburgh alone as the cause.

Research behind the app

Historical reconstruction created with AI-assisted interpretation of historical records, site photographs, and other evidence. Referenced materials retain their respective rights.

Kentucky Archaeological Survey, Report No. 309 (2021), Clear Creek archaeological investigations and historical context. Page numbers above refer to printed report pages.

Knudsen, “Test Excavations at the Clear Creek Iron Furnace,” printed pp. 128–136, and the associated 1980 excavation report.

Compton, Clear Creek Furnace National Register of Historic Places Application, Version 7 (October 2026), a working research draft.

The 1866 land survey and the 1884 Bath County atlas, reproduced and discussed in the archaeological report.

The app icon draws on a computer-generated logo, based on a 2026 photograph taken by Charles Compton. The historical scene is AI-generated interpretive artwork, checked against site photographs and the sources described here.

The simulated view of the 1873 Clear Creek Furnace is an interpretive view, not a photograph, measured reconstruction, or registered enlargement of the panorama. Its sand channels illustrate the sow-and-pig casting process; the bridge, roof and workers remain reconstructed. The app’s opening transition uses a September 13, 2026, furnace photograph, aligned by scale and position without warping its masonry.