page_title: Estill County, Kentucky
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Estill County, Kentucky / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Front of the Red River Iron Furnace, located off Kentucky Route 975 near Fitchburg in the Daniel Boone National Forest of Estill County, Kentucky, United States. Built in 1869, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
context_page_description: Estill County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,672. Its county seat is Irvine The county was formed in 1808 and named for Captain James Estill, a Kentucky militia officer who was killed in the Battle of Little Mountain during the American Revolutionary War. Estill County is a moist county meaning that the county seat, the city of Irvine, allows the sale of alcohol after the October 9, 2013 vote, but not the rest of Estill County outside the Irvine city limits.
  Estill County has two adjacent towns, known as the twin cities, Irvine and Ravenna. Both cities sit along the Kentucky River in the central part of the county. Ravenna is home to a former CSX Transportation facility, now owned by Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation for the restoration of Chesapeake and Ohio 2716. It conducts the Ravenna Railroad Festival annually in late summer, and the historic Fitchburg & Cottage Furnaces are located here. Irvine is home to the manufacturing headquarters of Carhartt, Inc and hosts the annual Mountain Mushroom Festival over the last weekend of April, which celebrates the abundant Morel Mushrooms found in the region.
context_section_description: Estill County was formed in 1808 from land given by Clark and Madison counties, it was Kentucky's 15th county. Originally settled by European settlers entering Kentucky via old buffalo and Indian trails and traveling through Boonesborough in what is today Madison County.
  Estill County was one of the first areas in the United States to experience early industrialization, with iron mining and smelting beginning in 1810. The iron industry would go on to thrive in Estill County for decades, with the ruins of the Estill furnace, the Cottage furnace, and the Fitchburg Furnace still being visible today. The Fitchburg furnace was a particularly impressive engineering feat. Standing 81 feet tall, the furnace is the largest charcoal furnace in the world, and one of the largest 25 dry-stone masonry structures in the world. The iron industry declined after the Civil War when iron deposits and timber to fire the furnaces were depleted, and innovation made charcoal furnaces obsolete. During the Civil War Estill County was strongly pro-union, similar to surrounding counties, especially to the southeast.
  Additionally, the county was historically known for the Estill Springs summer resort, situated near mineral springs in Irvine. This resort was a popular vacation site for many prominent Kentuckians in the 19th century, with men including Henry Clay, John Crittenden, and John C. Breckinridge vacationing there. The current courthouse, built in 1941, replaced a structure dating from the 1860s.
caption: Fitchburg Furnace located in Estill County. Legacy of 19th century iron industry. Largest charcoal furnace in the world.
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