Cumberland Furnace is an unincorporated community in Dickson County, Tennessee, United States.[1] Cumberland Furnace is served by a U.S. Post Office, ZIP Code 37051.[2]
Cumberland Furnace | |
|---|---|
 Cumberland Furnace Post Office | |
  Cumberland Furnace  Cumberland Furnace | |
| Coordinates: 36°16′07″N 87°21′35″W / 36.26861°N 87.35972°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Dickson |
| Elevation | 518 ft (158 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP Code | 37051 |
| Area code(s) | 615, Overlay 629 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1281828[1] |
History
editGeneral James Robertson purchased the land now known as Cumberland Furnace in 1793 and constructed the first furnace.
In 1804, Montgomery Bell moved to Middle Tennessee and purchased James Robertson's iron works business for $16,000. Bell expanded his operations and constructed other furnaces and mills, including a hammer mill south of Charlotte on Jones Creek utilizing waterpower.
By 1808, Bell was buying wood at 50 cents per cord for charcoal to fuel his furnaces, which cast cannonballs utilized in the War of 1812 by General Andrew Jackson's troops at the Battle of New Orleans.[3]
A nearby unincorporated community where many of Bell’s workers lived is called Bell Town. Bell suffered losses in the Panic of 1819, and in 1824, he advertised the Narrows and other properties for sale in the Nashville Whig. Bell offered to sell his ironworks to the U.S. Army to be used for an armory; however, floods on the Harpeth were well known and that idea failed.
Bell sold the ironworks to Anthony Wayne Van Leer, who was a member of a well-known family in Pennsylvania and noted in the anti-slavery cause.[4][3] His mansion was also used as a Union headquarters.[5][6] Van Leer’s granddaughter married a Union Captain James P. Drouillard and built what is now known as the Drouillard House on his property. Captain Drouillard operated the furnace until it was sold in 1889 to the Southern Iron Company.[7]
The Cumberland Furnace Historic District was designated on September 28, 1988 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[8]
Further reading
edit- A History of Dickson County, Tennessee by Robert E. Corlew, Tennessee Historical Commission, Nashville, 1956, reprinted 1980
- Cumberland Furnace : A Frontier Industrial Village : A Story of the First Ironworks on the Western Highland Rim' by George E. Jackson, 1994.
References
edit- ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee
- ^ United States Postal Service (2012). "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ a b Smith Futhey, J. (2007). "History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Biographies". History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Biographies. pp. 687–688. ISBN 9780788443879.
- ^ https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/33e0ccbd-9d73-4fe4-99de-1e6214e81ae1 [bare URL]
- ^ "Anthony Van Leer's House a Union Headquarters".
- ^ "Saint James Episcopal Church History". International Architecture Database.
- ^ Gail Hammerquist (March 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form: Drouillard House" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved July 28, 2015. Five photos (1977)
- ^ Cumberland Furnace Historic District (#88001109)