Destruction and Renewal

At Catoctin Furnace, enslaved workers were described on October 18, 7801, by Moravian minister John Frederick Schlegel as being out gathering chestnuts to sell for a little money. The first three iron furnaces at Catoctin relied on charcoal for fuel, requiring one acre of wood for every 24 hours a furnace was in blast. Cutting down the forests caused soil erosion and the loss of habitat for native species, and American chestnut trees and huckleberry bushes that villagers had relied on for extra food and income disappeared. In the 1930s, a New Deal program sought to turn land characterized as unproductive into new public parks, and the Catoctin forests, with their vistas, streams, ponds, and proximity to Washington, D.C., were considered an excellent candidate. Government officials bought vacant land and approached local landowners with offers to purchase their property; some families sold and relocated, others refused and were removed against their will, and a few descendants still live nearby today.

Maryland · United States