I've never seen a reference to a forge on Massaponax Creek. Do you
mean the double air furnace mentioned in Byrd?
byrd/mines 358 1732
But at the same time he gave me to understand that his
furnace[T ubal] had done no great feats lately, because he had been
taken up in building an air furnace at Massaponax, which he had now
brought to perfection and should be thereby able to furnish the whole
country with all sorts of cast iron as cheap and as good as ever came
from england.
byrd/mines 370
The Colonel received us... and carried us directly to
his air furnace, which is a very ingenious and profitable
contrivance. The use of it is to melt his sow iron in order to cast
it into sundry utensils, such as backs for chimneys, andirons,
fenders, plates for hearths, pots, mortars, rollers for gardeners,
skillets, boxes for cartwheels; and many other things, which, one
with another can be afforded at 20s a ton and delivered at people's
own homes, and , being cast from sow iron, are much better than those
which come from England, which are cast immediately from the ore for
the most part.
If so it is very different from a forge. It was a foundry (remelted
pig made at Tubal). A big question is why he built a double air
furnace. The demand for cast iron products was usually met by casting
directly from the blast furnace. A double air furnace is usually
built to cast cannon.
James Brothers, RPA
[log in to unmask]
On Mar 14, 2007, at 22:13, Hardin, David wrote:
> For a bit of clarification: The Tubal Germanna site
> is the furnace site on Pipe Dam Run between the
> Chancellorsville Battlefield and a bend in the
> Rappahannock River (approx. 38.330408 N, 77.611340 W
> according to Google Earth). The site of the furnace
> and dam are in the stream valley just above where
> Spottswood Furnace Road crosses. The first Germanna
> settlement and Tubal blockhouse are on a promontory
> east of the run and on the Rappahannock side of a
> gas (?) pipeline right-of-way. This is quite far
> removed from the later Germanna settlement on the
> Rapidan (about 4.1 miles as the crow flies), 7.6
> miles from Fredericksburg, and 13.7 miles from the
> forge site on Massapponax Creek.
>
> ________________________________
>
> Dr. David S. Hardin
> Assistant Professor of Geography
> Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
> Longwood University
> Farmville, Virginia 23909
> Phone: (434) 395-2581
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> ********************
> "For as Geography without History
> seemeth a carkasse without motion,
> so History without Geography
> wandreth as a Vagrant without a
> certaine habitation."
> John Smith, 1627
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
>
> Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 20:37:26 -0500
> From: Sunshine49 <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Tubal Germanna
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>> He indicated it was a small parking lot by the
> river [maybe for
>> boaters or fishermen?] so maybe it wasn't the
> furnace, but it was
>> something and he seemed happy that it was
> protected under the layer
>> of asphalt. Yes, it's still pretty rural, but new
> shopping areas are
>> creeping in, and housing.
>>
>> Nancy
>>
>> -------
>> I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for
> three days.
>>
>> --Daniel Boone
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 9, 2007, at 5:44 PM, Lyle E. Browning
> wrote:
>>
>>> On Mar 9, 2007, at 4:42 PM, Sunshine49 wrote:
>>>
>>>> When I was recently out there doing some
> look-ups, the man at the
>>>> library said something, I think it was the
> furnace, was now under
>>>> a small paved parking lot near the river, and
> so protected. I
>>>> think it is on land that is preserved, not
> open to development.
>>>> Look it up and send them an email.
>>> I fervently hope it wasn't the furnace as it
> sticks out of a
>>> hillside and would have to have been flattened
> for that to happen.
>>> I'm sure it wasn't the furnace as it's beside a
> stream up against a
>>> hill and as it's entirely rural, there's no
> parking lot needed.
>>>
>>> Lyle Browning, RPA
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Nancy
>>>>
>>>> -------
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