During the 1870s, the Elk Rapids furnace was one of the nation's greatest producers of charcoal iron. The furnace, forty-seven feet high and twelve feet in diameter, was begun in 1872 and produced its first blast of iron on June 24, 1873. The local logging firm of Dexter and Noble built it in Elk Rapids to use the vast stands of hardwood timber surrounding the town. That hardwood was converted to charcoal to fire the furnace, while iron ore was brought by freighter from the Upper Peninsula. Once the town's major employer, the furnace closed during World War I after the nearby forests were depleted and cheaper smelting processes were developed.