New Union Forge stood one-quarter mile southeast. It was built in 1846-47 on the site of older facilities by Wm. Kelly to process pig iron from nearby blast furnaces, and its products included kettles to refine sugar and boiler-plate iron. Here Kelly began to develop the so-called Bessemer steel-making process, for which he received the patent. The forge closed in 1857. Chas. Anderson laid out the town of Kuttawa here in 1870. 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 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 because of depletion of ore and timber and the growth of railroads.