Journey Through Hallowed Ground Byway
Catoctin Furnace, MD

The Catoctin Mountain Furnace in Cunningham Falls State Park is an iron furnace dating from the 1770s that evidences early settlement and industry in the area. In the 1700s, Thomas Johnson, Jr., the first governor of Maryland, discovered good hematite ore in the Catoctin Mountains. As a result, the Catoctin Furnace started producing pig iron in 1776. The furnace initially used charcoal, and the Catoctin forest provided fuel until 1873, when the furnace converted to coal. The remains of these iron works are found at the base of the Catoctin Mountains in Cunningham Falls State Park.