Cumberland Furnace Iron Plantation

Cumberland Furnace made Dickson County an industrial place before it was much of anything else. James Robertson and William Sheppard bought the 640 acres in 1793, and the furnace went into blast in 1796. Montgomery Bell bought it in 1804 for $16,000, and by 1812 he held contracts for cannon shot, gunpowder and whiskey. Anthony Van Leer and partners paid $50,000 in 1825. In 1860 the works made 1,831 tons of pig iron with a mostly enslaved workforce of ninety-three men and seven women. It stopped after Fort Donelson fell.

What the plaque says

Cumberland Iron Works One-half mile N. is site of first Ironworks west of the Alleghenies. Built in 1790 by James Robertson it was sold to Montgomery Bell in 1812. Operated by A. W. van Leer during the Civil War. It closed during the Civil War. It closed in 1924 but reopened briefly in 1937. It furnished munitions for every war during its existence. Cumberland Furnace Iron Plantation One mile west, James Robertson purchased land in 1793 to build the first iron works west of the Cumberlands. In 1804, Montgomery Bell bought it and during the War of 1812 supplied Gen. Jackson's army with cannon shot. From 1825 to 1863, A. W. Vanleer was the owner. The furnace was operated by the Warner Iron Company from 1899 until 1938. In 1942, the last iron was made at the furnace when it was briefly reopened by Rogers Caldwell, President of the Cumberland Iron Company. In September 1988, the Cumberland Furnace Historic Village was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Defiance Civil War Park and Interpretive Center — 19 mi
  An intact earthwork fort above the Cumberland and Red Rivers in Clarksville, begun with forced Black labor and later a contraband camp and recruiting center for Black soldiers.
• Dunbar Cave State Park — 20 mi
  A Clarksville cave with 800-year-old Mississippian artwork, later a resort and Roy Acuff's dance stage, now a state park with seasonal guided tours.
• Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge — 29 mi
  An 8,862-acre refuge on the Cumberland River floodplain near Dover, made in 1962 to replace habitat Lake Barkley flooded, wintering tens of thousands of waterfowl.

More markers nearby

• Theodore and Lizzie Vanleer Edmondson — 4.1 mi
• Promise Land — 4.2 mi
• Fighting for Freedom (Promise Land Civil War Heroes) — 4.2 mi
• Civil War In Charlotte — 6.2 mi