Charcoal fueled the iron industry at Crown Point. To produce 2,000 pounds of bloom iron, twice that amount of ore had to be mixed with 5400 pounds of charcoal, and smelting required a similar quantity of charcoal. Ore, charcoal, and limestone were heated in a stone stack, or furnace, until the molten iron could be tapped off in a stream called a sow into troughs called pigs. A huge charcoal shed occupied much of the far bank of the river to keep fuel dry, and two brick charcoal kilns supplemented charcoal produced by farmers in the surrounding countryside. The bridge used to transport charcoal across the creek was known as the black bridge. Because coal was not readily available, the Crown Point Iron Company produced its own charcoal, and the works' voracious appetite for fuel led settlers for miles around to turn forests into farmland and charcoal.