Texas Civil War Iron Works

To make farm and kitchen tools need in wartime, Chapel Hill Manufacturing Co. in 1863 set up plant on this site, processing native iron; used Cherokee limestone to purify the ore. Nearby hardwood supplied charcoal. Crew included 100 Louisiana slaves. Ore from hilltop was fed through smokestack into furnaces on lower ground. Slag caught in furnace grates. Melted iron fell through and was cast into molds. Plant had associated sawmills, brickyards and commissary -- freighting goods from Mexico. By the 1880's, at least 16 iron works operated in east Texas.

Texas Civil War Iron Works is a historical marker in Jacksonville, Cherokee County, dedicated in 1965. It is one of 112 historical markers documented in Cherokee County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 245 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 31.9073, -95.3860 near Jacksonville. The nearest cataloged historic site is Sides Graves (cemetery), about 1.0 miles away. Others within a short drive include Reynolds Family Plot, Earle's Chapel Cemetery, and Earle's Chapel Methodist Church.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5073006825. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.