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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