|
1000 |
First iron
produced and forged in North America by Vikings in Greenland and
northern Newfoundland (Canada) |
|
1543 |
Survivors of
Spanish expedition led by Hernando DeSoto produce first iron forged in
future United States (Arkansas) |
|
1621 |
First blast
furnace in British colonies built at Falling Creek, Virginia -
destroyed by Native Americans before going into production |
|
1710 |
Coke is invented
in England - used as fuel in iron furnaces |
|
1750 |
Iron Act, limiting
the ability of colonial iron industry to produce finished products,
passed by British Parliament |
|
1775 |
Beginning of the
American Revolution |
|
1807 |
Jefferson enacts
U.S. Embargo Act, limiting trade with Britain and France |
|
1815 |
Congress enacts
protective tariffs |
|
1828 |
Hot blast iron
smelting developed in Scotland (preheated air was blown into furnace)
producing more iron with less fuel |
|
1837 |
Bank panic;
depressed economy causes major setback to iron industry |
|
1845 |
Napoleon Hill
moves to Brownsport Tennessee as the first president of the Brownsport
Iron Co. Starts work building furnace. |
|
1861 |
Morrill Tariff Act
places strict duties upon imported iron and steel; helps Brownsport
Furnace continue to produce iron during and after the Civil War |
|
1861-1865 |
The Civil War; the
price of pig iron rises from $30/ton to over $90/ton |
| |
|
|
1874 |
Paper describing
Brownsport Furnace operations was prepared under the direction of the
Bureau of Agriculture |
|
1878 |
Brownsport Furnace
ceases operations due to an extensive lawsuit that developed, causing
the company to close in 1878 |
|
1977 |
Judge
Hardin Smith and the other county leaders begin the process to get the
site listed with the The
National Register Of Historic Places |
|
1988 |
Brownsport Furnace
Was Listed with The National Register Of Historic Places |
|
2002 |
County Mayor
Kenneth Broadway begins clean up and restoration work at Brownsport
Furnace in hopes of preserving the county’s heritage and developing
more tourism |
|
Present |
Visitors tour the
Decatur County Brownsport Furnace National Historic Site |
