Iron production in Kentucky was a major industry from 1791 onward. Kentucky ranked third in the U.S. in the 1830s and eleventh in 1965. Charcoal timber, native ore, and limestone supplied numerous furnaces that made 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 depletion of ore and timber and the growth of railroads. Steam Furnace, built by Shreve Brothers in 1824 and standing 3 1/4 miles south, was the first blast furnace in the Hanging Rock Iron Region to operate blowing engines by steam power rather than water. Fueled by charcoal, it stood 28 feet high and 8 1/2 feet across and produced 3 tons of iron in 24 hours, most of it cast at the furnace into utensils. It was abandoned after 1860.