On Jan 22, 2007, at 5:53 AM, Chris Salter wrote:

> My attention has been brought to a web news item reporting the
> newly discovered blast furnace at Falling Creek, Virginia.
> The URL is
>
> http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/
> MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192753490
>
> This item was found via David Meadows' Explorator weekly list of
> archaeological news items.


Allow me to clarify the sequence of events concerning the Falling
Creek Ironworks. What was uncovered was the culmination of a series
of floods starting with Hurricanes Fran and Isabel, and Tropical
Storm Gaston . They successively peeled back the bank. Then two minor
storms that dumped about 5" of rain into the Falling Creek drainage
ate into the south bank just below the falls. That exposed a set of
massive timbers. Those timbers are seen as part of the 1621-1622
Falling Creek blast furnace building set.

Archaeological excavations at the Falling Creek Ironworks at Falling
Creek, Chesterfield County, VA, on the site of the earliest iron
blast furnace in the New World (1619-1622) will start by
investigating timbers exposed by recent flooding. This furnace is the
beginning of heavy industry in the New World.

Physical Plant background:

Falling Creek is a tributary of the James River about 5 miles
downstream from Richmond, VA, USA on the right bank of the James and
on the right bank of the creek and about a half mile upstream from
the mouth.

The Virginia Company of London, sponsor of the Jamestown settlement,
started in 1619 to set up a blast furnace. The Virginia Company set
up the colony to be a self-sustaining and ultimately a money-making
venture. Various craft and light industrial ventures were tried,
including a glasshouse at Jamestown. Trials of iron ore were made,
and based on those results, backing was obtained to erect the much
more expensive and complex set of structures comprising a blast furnace.

Explorations were made of the geology along the James River and
Falling Creek was picked due to the water supply and raw materials.
It is the only location between the Fall Line at Richmond and the
Atlantic that has an immediately available water supply suitable for
a blast furnace and for access to water transportation to move the
products to Britain.

Although Falling Creek was deemed a near perfect place for a furnace,
it was not ready built. The dam had to be built across the creek.
 From evidence of post sockets cut into the granite on the two sets
of falls there, the dam was moved twice. The flume also appears to
have been moved. It also had to cross a large deep hole, and go
around a promontory and then empty onto the wheel.

At Falling Creek, there was a blast furnace in the early 17th century
and a forge in the second half of the 18th century. There was no
foundry.

Background history:

The Virginia Company in 1619 sent Ironmaster Blewitt with a crew to
set up a blast furnace as a money making venture. A small trial of
iron had taken place earlier that proved that iron could be made from
either the abundant bog ores in the James River basin or from iron
ores in rock formation. Blewitt died on the voyage over. It is
unknown what, if anything, the rest of the crew did. Then in 1621,
John Berkeley and his son Maurice with another crew were sent over to
build the blast furnace. They sent a letter back in 1621 that they
would have a plentiful supply of pig iron by Whitsuntide (May 14) of
1622. Unfortunately, the Powhatans staged a coup de main on March 22,
1622 that killed all but two children at the site. Maurice escaped as
he was elsewhere. There were 3 other attempts in the 17th century
with no known result. Then in 1750, Archibald Cary started a forge on
the property that continued to 1781 when it was burned by Benedict
Arnold.

It has been known from local stories where the furnace was located
generally. And, anyone with technical knowhow would also immediately
see where it had to be. Plus, the ground in the area was littered
with iron waste. Starting in the 1880's with Brock from the
Smithsonian, the site has been investigated. Each investigator
pronounced themselves certain that they had seen evidence of the
ironworks of 1619-1622. Roland Robbins who dug Saugus Ironworks in
Mass. also visited and was also impressed. A succession of folks in
the 1950's to the 1990's also visited and were certain they'd found
the location. The charcoal pile had been discovered on the south bank
and had been radiocarbon dated in the 1990's to the 1570's. The
topography fairly screamed out where the furnace had to be located.

The problem was that all of those who had come, looked, dug, and
pronounced with certainty that they had discovered the ironworks were
not technologically literate. What they had seen were pieces of pig
iron, slag, charcoal with slag, etc. All of that was part of the Cary
forge. Proof positive that a blast furnace got into operation was
dense glassy slag typically dark green or dark blue in color. To
date, not one piece of that has been found at Falling Creek to date.

The Falling Creek Ironworks Foundation was formed to be a steward of
the site by a group of concerned citizens in Chesterfield County. Two
archaeologists with a background in industrial archaeology and
ironworking were part of the mix. Our job was to provide the
technical expertise for the planned excavation. Chesterfield County
had acquired the property as a park. Working with the county, the
Foundation started the process of planning the events. We knew where
the ironworks was located from several pathways. Roger Bensley, in
1937, had uncovered the casting floor apparently during roadbuilding
operations and had covered it back over. Due to the overburden of
Cary forge slag, flood deposits and the roadway, and in the main due
to the absence of furnace slag, the main question was whether the
furnace had gotten into blast prior to March 22, 1622. We then did a
geophysical survey of the property. Resistance survey showed what
appeared to be large buildings on the floodplain. They were
consistent with warehouses that Cary had that were burned by Arnold
in 1781. Magnetometer survey showed a massive magnetic anomaly
consistent with a blast furnace exactly where all and sundry had
thought it should be. The mag survey was the first indication that
the furnace had gotten into blast. That massive anomaly proved that
the Virginia Company had fired the furnace. So, either the furnace
actually got into production for a short period or it was knocked out
just as it got into production by the Powhatans.

The Physical Remains

Several large timbers up to 32"x24"x10'+ were exposed with other
longer 14"x14"x33' timbers in the set. They form a rectangular
cribwork that is infilled with stone and clay to make a stable
foundation for whatever is to be built on top. There is over 6' depth
of cribwork . It is also about 60 feet long stretching down the bank
and goes back into the bank for an unknown distance, but not more
than 30 feet.

Investigation of the timbers shows a roughly rectangular cribwork
filled with large stones and clay. Timbers project out into the creek
and are underpinned by a base of rock pieces placed there by intent.
Remnants of wooden flooring upon which more rock and clay has been
deposited are visible.

Stratified over the cribwork is a set of flood deposits and on top of
that about 3' above the top of the cribwork is a 4" layer of Cary
forge slag. There is absolutely none of the forge slag in the timber
crib fill. That is an excellent example of stratigraphic separation
of the presumed 17th century structure set from the 1750-1781 Cary
forge operation.

At the power source waterfalls upstream of the site there are post
sockets cut into the granite indicating efforts to seat what was
probably a strongback dam. Another set of post sockets marks what
appears to be the flume posts. The flume had to cross a wide and deep
hole, go around a promontory and exhaust onto the waterwheel for the
bellows. The timbers uncovered appear to be part of an integrated
system built for the furnace. A wharf is not among the probable
interpretations as one was uncovered downstream in the 20th century.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The game plan is to excavate it to see what we do have, remove and
preserve the timbers and to put them on display in a museum at the
top of the hill. That will require fundraising and a lot of capital
to accomplish. We will be actively seeking funds to further the work
and to get the museum built.


Lyle Browning, RPA
Archaeologist
Falling Creek Ironworks Foundation