Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-03-23
AN ANCIENT IRON PLANT.
There is Some Probability that One
Was Located OH Six-and-Twcnty.
tNewS and Courier.) }

&# There are in Anderson county
s#ruins Of what must have been, 100 or
Samore years ago, an iron smelling
#plant, or iron foundry and machine
s$works; and the location Of this old
Splant, together with the physical evil
sssdences surrounding it, point very
gNstrongly to the conclusion that the
ssiron ore used at the plant was mined
S%from the surrounding hills. If this
sSbe true, IL Is quite reasonable to sup
SSpose that there must still be iron ore
9fn this same locality in sufficient
gsquantities to warrant at least rea-
S&sonable expense for investigation.
gSSS These ruins are located about
AAn miles northwest Of Anderson,
rs Is eaSSiX-and-Twenty creek, about 800
INyards north of the Ccntreville road
8Sbridge, on the east side OF the creek.
!4On each side of the creek the land
3Srises abruptly into bluffs, and these
Ebluffs are covered with growth of
EVERY large "old field pines There
SSis no growth of hickory, oak or other
&hard wood on them. Some of the
S8pines growing there measure from
@eight to twenty-four inches in dame
Sfter. This establishes the fact that
Mmany years have elapsed since the
#orlgnal forest was cut, and as the
8bluffs are too precipitous to be desir-
Mable for cultivation, and in the alb
#Sence Of any evidence OF cultivation,
ssuch as rows, etc, ii is reasonable to
%concMde that the timber from these
MDlultS was cut Off and used for fuel
gin melting the ore.
"a Frcshet Revealed Ruins.
II For many years this old iron plant
d has been the subject for talk among
81 the people, but the accumulation Of
q soil and growing vegetation had al
most destroyed the physical evi-
dences OF its location, and it was fast
bking entirely forgotten. But the
gEeat ireshet Of August, 1908, car
ried away the growth Of vegetation
and soil, beneath which very much
Of the ruins of the old plant were
buried. A visit to the place now
would reveal enormous quantities of
Stag. scattered for a distance Of sew
eral hundred feet along the banks Of
the creek. in heaps, extending out
into the water, and in mounds on
I the side Of the bluff--many tons to-
/ gether. There are also mounds OF
cinders in which no Stag or scoria
appears.
wagon road winds over the ruins
along the edge of the creek, and
where the mounds have been dug
into, In order to grade the road, Stag
can be seen in one, as the basis Of
the mound, and. in the other, only
cinders. These mounds are covered
with vegetation and some few large
trees. Near the waters edge arrows
sycamore tree, which is at least 8
IN II To, 4
feet tall. The waters of the freshet
washed the roots OF this tree bare of
soil, and left them clinging to masses
of Stag, thus showing that the tree
has had its growth since the plant
was operated. Near the sycamore,
standing upright, as 1t probably was
originally placed. was, until a few
days ago, an iron bearing for jour
nal that must have been three inches
in diameter. This bearing had been
pried out from its position, and now
lies on the banks Of the creek 1t Is
about five feet long, fourteen inches
wide, two and one-half inches thick,
and will weigh several hundred
pounds. Within ten or twelve feet
Of where this journal stood Is now re-
vealed the top Of a vat, or box made
of pine wood. This Is about four
iSSt "lue anu eight lecI lOnS. Ine
plank Of which 1t Is made Is In a
state Of fairly good preservation, and
the shape appears to be as perfect as
when 1t was first placed there.
The freshet also revealed several
large hammers, one or more OF which
weighed 800 pounds. These have
been carried away.
Old Excavations Z?
The bluff on the edge Of which
Nhesc ruins now are has, leading far
Pup towards the center Of It, what re-
semblcS gullies that have filed in and
and left from the plant, and it Is sup
posed by some that they were lead
ways to shafts in which the iron ore
was mined. For a considerable dist
ance up and down the road that
winds over the ruins, soft granite
rock jutt out from the edge of the
bluff or hill. Here and there over
the face Of the hill, on the east side
Of the creek, are dcpressions that
might have been the result Of cyca-
vations for ore.
In every direction from the ruins
except the bed Of tho creek. the land
go into hills Of considerable height.
yssj jccd this particular section OF the
county, Tor mile or more in every
direction, has the appearance Of be-
ing part of Il mountain range. This
fact has led to the query:
'Why should an iron smelling
plant be located in Il place so difficult
OF access and eGrcSs, If ore had not
been mined in the immediate Vi
cinity?"
1t looks very unreasonable to sup
pose that this ore would have been
brought from anywhere along the
waters Of the Savannah river on the
south, or from the hill country on