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Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc.

Thurmont, MD, us • 5 - 9 Employees
Museums

The Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., commemorates, studies, interprets, and preserves the rich history of this pre-Revolutionary industrial village, including the architecture, cultural landscapes, lifeways, and foodways of the workers. In some places, history lies buried far beneath the ground, covered over by the years and the ever-encroaching march of progress. In other places, it is still right in front of us, proudly displayed for all to see. The picturesque village of Catoctin Furnace is one of the latter types of places. Its history is, in microcosm, the history of the Industrial Revolution in America. The earliest European settlers to enter the Monocacy River Valley at the foot of Catoctin Mountain arrived in the 1730s. As is usual in pioneer societies, the settlers pursued agriculture as their primary livelihood. However, after the discovery of rich hematite ore deposits in the hills, industrialization rapidly swept into the valley. The area was ideally suited to iron production, having rich ore deposits, flowing streams that could drive bellows, and a large forest that could supply charcoal. From 1776 to 1903, iron companies mined the rich ore banks near Catoctin Mountain, smelted it in furnaces, and cast both raw pig iron and iron implements of every description. Four brothers, James, Baker, Roger and Thomas Johnson, had the farsightedness to see the valley's industrial potential on the eve of the American Revolution. This group of enterprising men bought land at the foot of the Catoctin Ridge and there began construction of an iron furnace. The Johnson furnace was in blast by 1776 and turning out a variety of useful tools and household items, including the popular ten plate or Catoctin stove. Toward the end of the Revolutionary War, it also produced ammunition for the Continental Army, including shells fired during the siege of Yorktown. Following independence, Thomas Johnson went on to became Maryland's first governor. In 1803, his bro