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The Lewis Furnace was built in 1847. It was built by Jacob Stroup in Bartow County and named for the industrialist, physician, and state legislator John W. Lewis. In 1847, Dr. Lewis, Mark Cooper, and others incorporated the Etowah Railroad Company. Governor Joseph E. Brown later appointed Dr. Lewis superintendent of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, a position he held for three years. The railroads were instrumental in moving heavy products through Bartow County to the nor

This blast furnace was built in 1852 in Bartow County off Stamp Creek. Originally called the Union Furnace, its ownership changed hands more than a half dozen times between its start and 1880. In 1875, this site was the first furnace in the United States to produce a commercial, high-quality ferro-manganese product at 67 percent purity. Its one-time owner, Willard P. Ward, had trained in Europe before venturing into the business in the United States. Ferromanganese is use