Princess Furnace was built here in 1876-77 by Thomas W. Means (1803-90), for 50 years the leading figure in the iron industry of this area and owner of furnaces in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and Alabama. This iron-jacketed stack burned “stone coal” because Buena Vista furnace nearby had used all the charcoal timber on 6000 acres, and its last blast came in 1878. Kentucky had been a major iron producer since 1791, ranking 3rd in the U.S. in the 1830s and 11th in 1965. Charcoal timber, native ore, and limestone supplied material for numerous furnaces making pig iron, utensils, and munitions in the Hanging Rock, Red River, Between Rivers, Rolling Fork, and Green River regions. The old charcoal furnace era ended through depletion of ore and timber and the growth of railroads.