Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County---February 21-27

One hundred and sixty years ago, Calhoun County was a rural farming area with fertile soil to support cotton crops and livestock. But under the soil hid a secret that would change the fate and fortunes of Calhoun County: iron ore deposits. The first iron furnace in Calhoun County was incorporated in the 1840s as the Benton Iron Works on Cane Creek near Polkville. The furnace passed through the hands of several owners throughout the years of operation. The on-site rolling mill and furnace produced various wares that were sold to locals around the county. The iron ore mined from the beds was often loaded on a Coosa River barge, located a few miles away, to be shipped to lower Alabama.

When war came in 1860, the Confederate States needed munitions so the iron works on Cane Creek was pressed into service. The iron ore from Cane Creek was shipped to the arsenal in Rome, GA, but this would not be enough to supply the Confederacy. In 1862, Oxford Iron Company built a furnace on land purchased from the Gunnells family. The charcoal blast furnace was operational by April 1863 with a capacity to produce 15 to 20 tons of fine quality iron a day. The 825-acre property south of Blue Mountain bordered the Alabama and Tennessee Rivers (later the Southern) Railroad property. The iron works held the rights to cut timber for the charcoal furnace from railroad’s property. The railroad station at Blue Mountain was used by the Oxford Furnace used to ship much of the mined brown ore to Ordnance Depot at Selma.

The third furnace built in Calhoun County was Janney Furnace at Ohatchee, not far from the Cane Creek iron foundry. In 1863, Montgomery foundryman A. A. Janney purchased land from William Griffin and began construction on the stack and brick chimney to process the plentiful ore deposits on the property. The two furnaces that we built last operated for about a year then came the arrival of U.S. General Lovell Rousseau. In July 1864, Rousseau’s men were on the way to raid Montgomery but stopped by Calhoun and neighboring Talladega County to burn the Cane Creek and Janney furnaces as well as the furnace at Salt Creek. Oxford Furnace survived this Union raid but less than a year later, U.S. General John T. Croxton raided Calhoun County and burned the Oxford furnace and the railroad station on his way to destroy Tuscaloosa.

What became of these furnace properties in Calhoun County and the iron deposits still nestled in the ground? After the Civil War ended in 1865, the South was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. Reconstruction saw the industrial revolution come to the area along with Northern industrialists’ capital. Cane Creek Furnace served the citizens of Calhoun County for over 25 years but was not rebuilt. Remnants of the furnace can be found on Pelham Range which is under the control of the Alabama National Guard. Janney Furnace had never been completed; so, Rousseau only burned the workers shacks and the cord wood used to operate the furnace. After the raid, Janney was undeterred and began shipping all the necessary equipment from his Montgomery foundry to complete the furnace. While all the mechanical parts were on site, the furnace was never completed to become operational. Around the turn of the 20th Century, the mechanical equipment was sold for scrap and the brick chimney was torn down. All that remained was the stack which became the foundation for the Janney Furnace Park and Museum in the early 21st Century.

But what became of Oxford Furnace……check back next week to find out the fate of Oxford Iron Company.

To learn more about the history of Calhoun County pick up a copy of Images of America: Calhoun County (ISBN 978-0738589985), Anniston (ISBN 978-0738506012), or Anniston Revisited (ISBN 978-1467114752) by Kimberly O’Dell.