Dunlap Coke Ovens
Encyclopedia
The Dunlap Coke Ovens are the remnants of a coke
production facility near Dunlap
, in the U.S. state of Tennessee
. Built in the early 1900s, the facility consists of five batteries of 268 beehive oven
s, which operated under various companies until the early 1920s. The ovens are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places
, and are maintained by the Sequatchie Valley Historical Society as part of Dunlap Coke Ovens Park.
The rise of the steel industry during the Industrial Revolution brought about an exponential increase in the demand for coke, a fuel derived from the carbonization of coal that was used primarily in the production of pig iron
. The Dunlap coke facility, which converted coal mined atop Fredonia Mountain into coke for use in blast furnaces in nearby Chattanooga
, brought drastic change and modernization to Dunlap and the central Sequatchie Valley
, the economy of which had long been based on subsistence agriculture
. While the ovens themselves are all that remain from Dunlap's coke production operations, the Sequatchie Valley Historical Society has redeveloped the coke ovens area into a substantial public park and museum.
valley carved into the southern section of the Cumberland Plateau
. Dunlap, the county seat of Sequatchie County, is located near the center of the valley. The relatively steep walls of the Plateau rise roughly 1000 feet (304.8 m) above the valley floor, which is traversed by the Sequatchie River
. Fredonia Mountain, a section of the western valley wall, rises steeply a few miles west of Dunlap. The Dunlap Coke Ovens are situated at the base of Fredonia Mountain, along a stream known as Coops Creek. The ovens and surrounding park are located on Mountain View Road, just under a mile west of downtown Dunlap.
The ovens themselves are 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter, with sandstone exteriors and firebrick interiors. Each oven has an opening at the top and a "window" on the side. In the early 1900s, railroad tracks ran across the top of each battery. An incline railway connected the ovens to a coal mine further up the mountain slope, and railroad cars would carry coal from the mine to the tops of the batteries and dump the coal into the ovens' top openings.
During the coking process, a laborer would level the deposited coal through the side window using a scaper. Once the coal was ready, the side window would be sealed with clay, leaving a 1 inches (2.5 cm) opening to allow the entry of air. The process, which essentially involves heating bituminous coal
in a closed chamber to remove its volatile material, took about 72 hours. At the end of the process, the clay seal was broken, and the coke was removed and placed on a train for shipment to an iron furnace in Chattanooga. Two tons of coal typically produced one ton of coke.
The arrival of the railroad in the 1880s brought major coal mining operations to the southern Cumberland Plateau. Coal was first mined on Fredonia Mountain in 1899, although it was considered too soft for domestic purposes. The following year, the Douglas Coal and Coke Company purchased a 14000 acres (5,665.6 ha) tract of land around the base of Fredonia Mountain for the mining of coal and production of coke. By 1902, Douglas had constructed the first 50 coke ovens, developed several coal mines, built the incline railway, and had established a company town with a commissary and clubhouse. The company suffered from labor problems, however, and never quite developed a method of separating the dirt from the coal. In 1904, Douglas halted operations.
The Chattanooga Iron and Coal Company purchased the Douglas operation in 1905, and the following year built a steam-powered coal washer and constructed additional coke ovens. Chattanooga Iron and Coal owned quarries in Georgia and a blast furnace in the Tannery Flats section of Chattanooga. At its blast furnace, the company used coke from its Dunlap operation to convert iron ore mined at its Georgia quarries into pig iron. The operation proved profitable until 1916, when a boiler explosion destroyed its coal washer. The company built a new washer and added more coke ovens that year, but the cost and poor performance of the new washer drained the company financially. In 1919, the company sold its entire iron and coke operation to the Southern States Iron and Coal Company.
By 1920, Dunlap effectively consisted of two towns, just under a mile apart. Dunlap proper (the town's courthouse square and downtown area) had a population of 765, whereas the company town operated by Southern States Iron and Coal (at the present coke ovens park site) had a population of 700. The company's 350-man Dunlap workforce included a sizeable African-American population that was segregated. The coke ovens required a crew of 85 to remain in full operation. Southern States Iron and Coal produced coke at Dunlap until 1922, when it shut down its Dunlap operations. In 1928, brothers E.P. and E.K. Rosamund purchased Southern States' Dunlap properties with plans to revive the coke operation, but with the onset of the Great Depression and plummeting coal prices, their plans never materialized.
In 1985, the ovens were added to the National Register of Historic Places. The property, which had come under the ownership of the Bowater Corporation, was donated to the Sequatchie Valley Historical Association later that same year. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the association cleared tons of trash from the area, and the Dunlap Coke Ovens Park opened in 1987. To raise funds for park staffing and maintenance, the Sequatchie Valley Historical Association built an amphitheater adjacent to one of the oven batteries, and held its first annual Coke Ovens Bluegrass Festival. In 1989, the park received $71,000 from the estate of Rhea County
historian David Henry Gray, which it used to reconstruct the commissary on its original foundation. The reconstructed building now houses the Coke Ovens Museum.
Along with the museum, ovens, and amphitheater, Dunlap Coke Ovens Park includes a coal mine replica with mining machinery on display, the ruins of the 1906 coal washer, a replica of the Dunlap depot, a caboose
, and various park shelters. A hiking trail now follows the incline railway grade to the former mining areas atop Fredonia Mountain.
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
production facility near Dunlap
Dunlap, Tennessee
Dunlap is a city in Sequatchie County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 4,173 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Sequatchie County.Dunlap is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, in the U.S. state of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. Built in the early 1900s, the facility consists of five batteries of 268 beehive oven
Beehive oven
A beehive oven is an early type of oven. It gets its name from its domed shape, which resembles that of an old-fashioned beehive, and was in common use in the Americas and Europe from the Middle Ages to the advent of the gas and electric ovens. Beehive ovens were common in households used for...
s, which operated under various companies until the early 1920s. The ovens are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, and are maintained by the Sequatchie Valley Historical Society as part of Dunlap Coke Ovens Park.
The rise of the steel industry during the Industrial Revolution brought about an exponential increase in the demand for coke, a fuel derived from the carbonization of coal that was used primarily in the production of pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
. The Dunlap coke facility, which converted coal mined atop Fredonia Mountain into coke for use in blast furnaces in nearby Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
, brought drastic change and modernization to Dunlap and the central Sequatchie Valley
Sequatchie Valley
Sequatchie Valley is a relatively long and narrow valley in the U.S. state of Tennessee and, in some definitions, Alabama. It is generally considered to be part of the Cumberland Plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains; it was probably formed by erosion of a compression anticline, rather than...
, the economy of which had long been based on subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye...
. While the ovens themselves are all that remain from Dunlap's coke production operations, the Sequatchie Valley Historical Society has redeveloped the coke ovens area into a substantial public park and museum.
Location
The Sequatchie Valley is a long, narrow synclineSyncline
In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger layers closer to the center of the structure. A synclinorium is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold, termed a synformal syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger...
valley carved into the southern section of the Cumberland Plateau
Cumberland Plateau
The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, part of Tennessee, and a small portion of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia . The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the...
. Dunlap, the county seat of Sequatchie County, is located near the center of the valley. The relatively steep walls of the Plateau rise roughly 1000 feet (304.8 m) above the valley floor, which is traversed by the Sequatchie River
Sequatchie River
The Sequatchie River is a waterway that drains the Sequatchie Valley, a large valley in the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee.-Hydrography:The Sequatchie River's source is a massive spring which flows out of Head of Sequatchie Spring...
. Fredonia Mountain, a section of the western valley wall, rises steeply a few miles west of Dunlap. The Dunlap Coke Ovens are situated at the base of Fredonia Mountain, along a stream known as Coops Creek. The ovens and surrounding park are located on Mountain View Road, just under a mile west of downtown Dunlap.
The Dunlap ovens and the coking process
The Dunlap Coke Ovens facility consists of five batteries— four "double" batteries of ovens built back-to-back in staggered formation, and one "single" battery of ovens resting against an embankment. The batteries are all approximately 9 feet (2.7 m) tall and 35 feet (10.7 m) wide, and range in length from 180 feet (54.9 m) to 725 feet (221 m). The largest battery contains 100 ovens built back-to-back, and the smallest battery contains 24 built back-to-back. The lone "single" battery contains 38 ovens, and measures 580 feet (176.8 m). Each battery rests on a foundation of clay.During the coking process, a laborer would level the deposited coal through the side window using a scaper. Once the coal was ready, the side window would be sealed with clay, leaving a 1 inches (2.5 cm) opening to allow the entry of air. The process, which essentially involves heating bituminous coal
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
in a closed chamber to remove its volatile material, took about 72 hours. At the end of the process, the clay seal was broken, and the coke was removed and placed on a train for shipment to an iron furnace in Chattanooga. Two tons of coal typically produced one ton of coke.
History
The Chattanooga Iron and Coal Company purchased the Douglas operation in 1905, and the following year built a steam-powered coal washer and constructed additional coke ovens. Chattanooga Iron and Coal owned quarries in Georgia and a blast furnace in the Tannery Flats section of Chattanooga. At its blast furnace, the company used coke from its Dunlap operation to convert iron ore mined at its Georgia quarries into pig iron. The operation proved profitable until 1916, when a boiler explosion destroyed its coal washer. The company built a new washer and added more coke ovens that year, but the cost and poor performance of the new washer drained the company financially. In 1919, the company sold its entire iron and coke operation to the Southern States Iron and Coal Company.
By 1920, Dunlap effectively consisted of two towns, just under a mile apart. Dunlap proper (the town's courthouse square and downtown area) had a population of 765, whereas the company town operated by Southern States Iron and Coal (at the present coke ovens park site) had a population of 700. The company's 350-man Dunlap workforce included a sizeable African-American population that was segregated. The coke ovens required a crew of 85 to remain in full operation. Southern States Iron and Coal produced coke at Dunlap until 1922, when it shut down its Dunlap operations. In 1928, brothers E.P. and E.K. Rosamund purchased Southern States' Dunlap properties with plans to revive the coke operation, but with the onset of the Great Depression and plummeting coal prices, their plans never materialized.
Dunlap Coke Ovens Park
After the 1920s, the Dunlap Coke Ovens lay dormant for over a half century. By the 1980s, all that remained of the Dunlap operations were the ovens, a slate pile and coal washer ruins, two company houses (drastically modified), and the clubhouse. Some of the ovens retained only their sandstone frame, some retained only their brick interiors, and some had collapsed entirely.In 1985, the ovens were added to the National Register of Historic Places. The property, which had come under the ownership of the Bowater Corporation, was donated to the Sequatchie Valley Historical Association later that same year. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the association cleared tons of trash from the area, and the Dunlap Coke Ovens Park opened in 1987. To raise funds for park staffing and maintenance, the Sequatchie Valley Historical Association built an amphitheater adjacent to one of the oven batteries, and held its first annual Coke Ovens Bluegrass Festival. In 1989, the park received $71,000 from the estate of Rhea County
Rhea County, Tennessee
Rhea County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 28,400. Its county seat is Dayton.-Geography:According to the U.S...
historian David Henry Gray, which it used to reconstruct the commissary on its original foundation. The reconstructed building now houses the Coke Ovens Museum.
Along with the museum, ovens, and amphitheater, Dunlap Coke Ovens Park includes a coal mine replica with mining machinery on display, the ruins of the 1906 coal washer, a replica of the Dunlap depot, a caboose
Caboose
A caboose is a manned North American rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train. Although cabooses were once used on nearly every freight train, their use has declined and they are seldom seen on trains, except on locals and smaller railroads.-Function:The caboose provided the...
, and various park shelters. A hiking trail now follows the incline railway grade to the former mining areas atop Fredonia Mountain.