Clear Creek Furnace was built in 1839, five miles south, by W. A. Lane and W. S. Allen. Its stone stack was originally 40 feet high and 10 1/2 feet across inside, burning charcoal, with an air blast powered by steam. Its iron was used mainly for railway car wheels. It operated until about 1857, then stood idle until it was rebuilt and renamed Bath Furnace in 1872-73. In 1874 it produced 1339 tons, and its last blast came in 1875. Kentucky had been a major iron producer since 1791, ranking third in the United States in the 1830s and eleventh 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 with the depletion of ore and timber and the growth of railroads.