Red River Iron Works included Blackstone and Chandler Furnaces, a single stone structure 60 feet high and 40 by 60 feet, with twin stacks 50 feet high and 12 1/2 feet across inside, located three miles north. Built in 1869 by Sam Worthley and designed by Fred Fitch, it used a steam-powered air blast and burned charcoal. It operated until 1874 and produced 16,072 tons of iron. Fitchburg, chartered in 1871, no longer exists. Kentucky had been a major iron producer since 1791, ranking third in the U.S. in the 1830s and eleventh in 1965. Charcoal timber, native ore, and limestone supplied numerous furnaces in the Hanging Rock, Red River, Between Rivers, Rolling Fork, and Green River regions, where pig iron, utensils, and munitions were made. The old charcoal furnace era ended with the depletion of ore and timber and the growth of railroads.