One of the few wooden structures remaining from the early 1800s when Elizabeth Furnace was active, the Elizabeth Furnace Cabin combines parts of several buildings from the community supported by the furnace’s pig iron industry. In 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps began construction on the Elizabeth Furnace Recreation Area, moved logs from several buildings across Passage Creek, and built an administration building now known as the Elizabeth Furnace Cabin; different notching styles on the back south corner indicate that the logs came from five or six buildings. Across Passage Creek, stone remains mark the once prosperous industry. Built in the 1830s, Elizabeth Furnace operated for about 50 years and during the Civil War supplied thousands of tons of pig iron to the Confederacy. It was destroyed in 1864 when Federal troops penetrated the upper end of Fort Valley during the battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864, rebuilt in 1883 with no appreciable output, and abandoned in 1888. In 1913, the Forest Service acquired the furnace and surrounding land, where hillsides were bare, roads were eroding, and stream channels were filled with debris from the mining and charcoaling required to operate the furnace, and began work to revegetate the area and protect it from fire. In 1995, with help from Potomac Appalachian Trail Club volunteers, the Forest Service rehabilitated the cabin by strengthening the foundation, facing rotten log sections with hand-hewn timbers, replacing the daubing between the logs, and replacing the shingles with cedar shakes.

Photo: Linda Walcroft

Photo: Craig Swain

Photo: Linda Walcroft

Photo: Craig Swain

Strasburg, Virginia · USA