Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company
Encyclopedia
The Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company is a defunct coal mining
, iron
producer and railroad company that operated in Maryland
from 1835 to 1863.
Between 1837 and 1839, the company built an iron furnace in Lonaconing, Maryland
. The furnace, fueled by coke
, went into blast in 1839. There was plenty of iron ore, limestone
, water, and coal
locally, but the major problem the company faced was transporting finished products to market. Production reached 75 tons per week, and local iron needs were quickly satisfied. Some products were shipped out by wagon, including such items as dowels for the walls of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
(C&O). The adjacent casting house made farming implements, mine car wheels and track, and household utensils. The furnace output was mostly in the form of pig iron
, which was sold to be recast, or worked.
Ore for the furnace came from mines on the hill behind the furnace. Tram roads were used to transport the ore to the furnace. Later, the mine tunnels were used as storage cellars by residents on the hill. Ore was also mined on the opposite hillside, above the (later) silk factory, and the area around Buck Hill. Ore also came from Koontz (now called Midland, Maryland
). The Tilley Field was on Hugh Weir's property, on the east side of a fork of Laurel Run
. Another tunnel was located on the Philip Hansel land, just south of Tilley Field. It was reported to be 6 feet (1.8 m) high, and a 100 feet (30.5 m) long. From 1848 through 1858, ore came from the area around Pompey Smash (Vale Summit
), on the south side of Dan's Rock Road.
One key ingredient of a blast furnace
is the blast. The company bought the necessary machinery from the West Point Foundry
in New York City
. The machinery went by ship from New York to Georgetown, then by canal to Williamsport
. Here, the parts were loaded on wagons for the final leg of the journey. The canal charged $3.50 per ton to transport the twenty tons of machinery parts. Only the boilers made it to Lonaconing before the canal froze in the winter of 1837. Ten additional wagon loads from Williamsport arrived at the site in November.
The blast machinery featured a 60 hp steam engine
fed by five boiler
s. The steam cylinders were 18 inches (457.2 mm) in diameter, and 8 feet (2.4 m) long. The system operated at 50 psi. The steam cylinder drove a blast cylinder 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, and 8 feet (2.4 m) long. This forced about 3500 cubic feet (99.1 m³) per minute of air at 2.5 psi through the system. A very large iron regulator smoothed the air flow from the reciprocating cylinder. The air flowed through a series of pipes in the boiler furnaces and was heated to 700 °F (371.1 °C). The heated air then entered the blast furnace through two big water-cooled nozzles called tuyere
s. When the water supply failed, the furnace had to be operated with a less efficient cold blast. The first run of good iron came from the furnace on May 17, 1839. By May 23, the furnace was producing six tons per day. Seven tons of coal were required to produce one ton of the cast metal.
The furnace complex was visited by Caspar Wever, Superintendent of Construction for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
(B&O), in June 1839. Shortly afterwards, the shareholders of the C&O Canal visited. With the furnace up and operating, the facility expansion plans included a forge
and rolling
mill. However, these were never built. The company began to concentrate on building a railroad to meet with the canal in Cumberland
, or with the railroad at Westernport
.
With production going well, iron piled up in Lonaconing. In 1842, sales of pig iron to foundries in Cumberland began, with delivery by wagon. An adjacent sawmill
and lumberyard, also owned by the company, recorded sales to the nearby Mount Savage Iron Works
, then involved in building its own furnaces. In the fall of 1842, pig iron was offered to the B&O Railroad at a price of $29 per ton.
A major figure at the Lonaconing iron furnace was Christian Edward Detmold
(1810–1887). A civil engineer
born in Hannover, Germany, Detmold had entered the U.S. at age 16 while en route to Brazil
to join the Army. He stayed in the U.S. and did surveys for a railroad in Charleston, South Carolina
, won a $500 prize for a horse treadmill car from the Charleston & Hamburg Railroad & Canal Co., and worked for the U.S. War Department
on the construction of Fort Sumter
.
From 1845 to 1852 Detmold was involved in iron production at Lonaconing. He was responsible for the construction of the tram road in 1847 from Lonaconing to Clarysville, Maryland
. This line connected with the Eckhart Branch Railroad, constructed by the Maryland Mining Company
. Detmold leased the furnace, overhauled the boilers, and rebuilt the engine house. The furnace went back into blast in May 1846, and Detmold had a flourishing business by 1847. He was producing 2500 tons of pig iron annually. The company, perhaps jealous of his success, declined to renew his lease.
Detmold moved on to direct construction of the Exhibit of Industry, at the Crystal Palace
in New York, which opened in July 1853. He is remembered by having both a town and a Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad
(C&P) engine named after him.
toward the Potomac River
at Westernport, would be the answer to the transportation issue. As a result, the Georges Creek Railroad
was completed in 1853.
The rail line was unfortunately too late to provide the needed market access for the Lonaconing Iron Furnace. The furnace was abandoned in 1855. Coal, not iron, became the most important commodity shipped out of the region, as better grades of iron ore were discovered in Pennsylvania
and the Great Lakes
region.
. There was technology sharing and cooperation between the facilities at Lonaconing and at Mount Savage.
The Georges Creek Railroad was sold to the C&P on October 23, 1863.
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
producer and railroad company that operated in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
from 1835 to 1863.
Iron furnace
The company was formed in 1835, and chartered in the state of Maryland on March 29, 1836. The president was John Henry Alexander, who also happened to be the Maryland State Engineer.Between 1837 and 1839, the company built an iron furnace in Lonaconing, Maryland
Lonaconing, Maryland
Lonaconing is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,205 at the 2000 census.- History :...
. The furnace, fueled by coke
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 :...
, went into blast in 1839. There was plenty of iron ore, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, water, and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
locally, but the major problem the company faced was transporting finished products to market. Production reached 75 tons per week, and local iron needs were quickly satisfied. Some products were shipped out by wagon, including such items as dowels for the walls of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, D.C. The total length of the canal is about . The elevation change of...
(C&O). The adjacent casting house made farming implements, mine car wheels and track, and household utensils. The furnace output was mostly in the form 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...
, which was sold to be recast, or worked.
Ore for the furnace came from mines on the hill behind the furnace. Tram roads were used to transport the ore to the furnace. Later, the mine tunnels were used as storage cellars by residents on the hill. Ore was also mined on the opposite hillside, above the (later) silk factory, and the area around Buck Hill. Ore also came from Koontz (now called Midland, Maryland
Midland, Maryland
Midland is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 473 at the 2000 census....
). The Tilley Field was on Hugh Weir's property, on the east side of a fork of Laurel Run
Laurel Run (Georges Creek)
Laurel Run is a tributary stream of Georges Creek in Allegany County, Maryland. The creek rises about northwest of Lonaconing and empties into Georges Creek north of Barton.-References:...
. Another tunnel was located on the Philip Hansel land, just south of Tilley Field. It was reported to be 6 feet (1.8 m) high, and a 100 feet (30.5 m) long. From 1848 through 1858, ore came from the area around Pompey Smash (Vale Summit
Vale Summit, Maryland
Vale Summit is an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland, United States.Local lore indicates that the community was so named in the mid 19th century, founded by the local population of coal miners. Previously, however, it was locally known as "Pompey Smash", the origin of which is...
), on the south side of Dan's Rock Road.
One key ingredient of a blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
is the blast. The company bought the necessary machinery from the West Point Foundry
West Point Foundry
The West Point Foundry was an early ironworks in Cold Spring, New York that operated from 1817 to 1911. Set up to remedy deficiencies in national armaments production after the War of 1812, it became most famous for its production of Parrott rifles and other munitions during the Civil War, although...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The machinery went by ship from New York to Georgetown, then by canal to Williamsport
Williamsport, Maryland
Williamsport is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,868 at the 2000 census and 2,278 as of July 2008.-Geography: Williamsport is located at ....
. Here, the parts were loaded on wagons for the final leg of the journey. The canal charged $3.50 per ton to transport the twenty tons of machinery parts. Only the boilers made it to Lonaconing before the canal froze in the winter of 1837. Ten additional wagon loads from Williamsport arrived at the site in November.
The blast machinery featured a 60 hp steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
fed by five boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s. The steam cylinders were 18 inches (457.2 mm) in diameter, and 8 feet (2.4 m) long. The system operated at 50 psi. The steam cylinder drove a blast cylinder 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, and 8 feet (2.4 m) long. This forced about 3500 cubic feet (99.1 m³) per minute of air at 2.5 psi through the system. A very large iron regulator smoothed the air flow from the reciprocating cylinder. The air flowed through a series of pipes in the boiler furnaces and was heated to 700 °F (371.1 °C). The heated air then entered the blast furnace through two big water-cooled nozzles called tuyere
Tuyere
A tuyere, also can be spelled as tuyère, is a tube, nozzle or pipe through which air is blown into a furnace or hearth.Air or oxygen is injected into a hearth under pressure from bellows or a blast engine or other devices...
s. When the water supply failed, the furnace had to be operated with a less efficient cold blast. The first run of good iron came from the furnace on May 17, 1839. By May 23, the furnace was producing six tons per day. Seven tons of coal were required to produce one ton of the cast metal.
The furnace complex was visited by Caspar Wever, Superintendent of Construction for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
(B&O), in June 1839. Shortly afterwards, the shareholders of the C&O Canal visited. With the furnace up and operating, the facility expansion plans included a forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
and rolling
Rolling
Rolling is a combination of rotation and translation of that object with respect to a surface , such that the two are in contact with each other without sliding. This is achieved by a rotational speed at the cylinder or circle of contact which is equal to the translational speed...
mill. However, these were never built. The company began to concentrate on building a railroad to meet with the canal in Cumberland
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a city in the far western, Appalachian portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a...
, or with the railroad at Westernport
Westernport, Maryland
Westernport is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,104 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
With production going well, iron piled up in Lonaconing. In 1842, sales of pig iron to foundries in Cumberland began, with delivery by wagon. An adjacent sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
and lumberyard, also owned by the company, recorded sales to the nearby Mount Savage Iron Works
Mount Savage Iron Works
The Mount Savage Iron Works operated from 1839 to 1868 in Mount Savage, Maryland. The ironworks were the largest in the United States in the late 1840s, and the first in the nation to produce heavy rails for construction of railroads. The works were established in an area adjacent to mines for...
, then involved in building its own furnaces. In the fall of 1842, pig iron was offered to the B&O Railroad at a price of $29 per ton.
A major figure at the Lonaconing iron furnace was Christian Edward Detmold
Christian Edward Detmold
Christian Edward Detmold was an engineer.-Biography:He was educated at the military academy in Hanover, and came to New York in 1826, with the intention of entering the Brazilian army. Unfavorable accounts of the conditions in Brazil induced him to remain in the United States, and he became well...
(1810–1887). A civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
born in Hannover, Germany, Detmold had entered the U.S. at age 16 while en route to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
to join the Army. He stayed in the U.S. and did surveys for a railroad in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, won a $500 prize for a horse treadmill car from the Charleston & Hamburg Railroad & Canal Co., and worked for the U.S. War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
on the construction of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...
.
From 1845 to 1852 Detmold was involved in iron production at Lonaconing. He was responsible for the construction of the tram road in 1847 from Lonaconing to Clarysville, Maryland
Clarysville, Maryland
Clarysville is an unincorporated town in Allegany County, Maryland, USA. It is located along U.S. Route 40 Alternate, at its intersection with Maryland Route 55. Clarysville was known around the region for the Clarysville Inn, a historic building which stood in Clarysville from 1807 until it burned...
. This line connected with the Eckhart Branch Railroad, constructed by the Maryland Mining Company
Maryland Mining Company
The Maryland Mining Company is a historic coal mining, iron producer and railroad company that operated in Allegany County, Maryland.The company was based in Eckhart Mines, Maryland; the location in Braddock Run was among the first bituminous coal mines developed in the Georges Creek...
. Detmold leased the furnace, overhauled the boilers, and rebuilt the engine house. The furnace went back into blast in May 1846, and Detmold had a flourishing business by 1847. He was producing 2500 tons of pig iron annually. The company, perhaps jealous of his success, declined to renew his lease.
Detmold moved on to direct construction of the Exhibit of Industry, at the Crystal Palace
New York Crystal Palace
New York Crystal Palace was an exhibition building constructed for the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City in 1853, which was under the presidency of Mayor Jacob Aaron Westervelt...
in New York, which opened in July 1853. He is remembered by having both a town and a Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad
Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad
The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad was an American railroad which operated in Western Maryland. Primarily a coal hauler, it was owned by the Consolidation Coal Company, and was absorbed into the Western Maryland Railway in 1944....
(C&P) engine named after him.
Railroad
Delivery of the manufactured iron was a problem at Lonaconing. After experimenting with a horse-powered tram road, the company realized that a rail line, built down the Georges Creek ValleyGeorges Creek Valley
Georges Creek Valley is located in Allegany County, Maryland along the George's Creek. The valley is rich in wide veins of coal, known historically as the "The Big Vein." Coal was once extracted by deep mines but is only mined today through surface mining...
toward the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
at Westernport, would be the answer to the transportation issue. As a result, the Georges Creek Railroad
Georges Creek Railroad
The Georges Creek Railroad was a railroad operated by the Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company in Western Maryland. The railroad operated from 1853 to 1863, when it was acquired by the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad .- History :...
was completed in 1853.
The rail line was unfortunately too late to provide the needed market access for the Lonaconing Iron Furnace. The furnace was abandoned in 1855. Coal, not iron, became the most important commodity shipped out of the region, as better grades of iron ore were discovered in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region.
Furnace shut down
After taking back the furnace facility from Detmold, Georges Creek C&I operated it sporadically. The furnace produced 1,860 tons of pig iron in its last active year, 1855. It was then shut down, and abandoned. Harvey (1977) states that the furnace facility was too technologically advanced for its time. However, it provided an impetus for the mining industry and for the construction of the railroad, and served as a model for a similar iron working facility built at Mount SavageMount Savage, Maryland
Mount Savage is an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. A small blue-collar community, Mount Savage lies at the base of Big Savage Mountain in the Allegheny Mountains, between the cities of Frostburg and Cumberland...
. There was technology sharing and cooperation between the facilities at Lonaconing and at Mount Savage.
The Georges Creek Railroad was sold to the C&P on October 23, 1863.