The Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery lies on a hill 360 feet south of this point, marked by field stones and holding the remains of men, women, and children of African ancestry. Many were enslaved workers, some of whom may have been brought directly from Africa for their iron-working skills, while others may have belonged to the furnace area's freed Black population. In 1979, archaeological investigations during construction of a new highway uncovered the graves of 35 individuals, thought to represent a third of the cemetery, and a ground penetrating radar survey in 2014 identified 23 additional burials. The Museum of the Ironworker houses forensic facial reconstructions of two individuals, a woman aged 30-35 years and a young man aged 15-16 years. DNA tests and other forensic studies are revealing these early Marylanders' faces as well as evidence of the harsh existence they endured, their ancestral origins, and the family units that helped sustain them.