Built in late 1862 by the Noble brothers, Cornwall Furnace was named for a similar blast iron furnace in James Noble's home state of Pennsylvania. Pig iron ingots produced there were taken to the Noble Foundry in Rome, where they were converted to cast iron for use by the government of the Confederate States of America for various war materials. This facility, and a similar one north of the Coosa River at Round Mountain, required limestone, iron ore, and charcoal to be fed into the top of the tall furnace. Water from the nearby Chattooga River was diverted to force air from a large bellows at the bottom, causing the temperature inside to rise to the desired degree. As the iron ore heated, a chemical reaction took place, and liquid iron emerged into sand molds at the bottom of the furnace. In the fall of 1864, after capturing the city of Atlanta, General William T. Sherman's army moved west into Alabama in pursuit of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. While around present-day Cedar Bluff and Gaylesville, Sherman's troops destroyed much of Cornwall Furnace. After the Civil War, Cornwall was rebuilt but ceased production in 1874.