In 1870, amid fears that the supply of charcoal would fall short, extraordinary exertions brought another set of kilns into readiness so the supply could be maintained. Colliers manufactured charcoal to fuel the furnaces at a row of kilns like this reconstruction, while the company also operated kilns elsewhere on the Garden Peninsula and contracted with private operators to provide charcoal. By the mid-1880s, more than eighty kilns were in operation within ten miles of Fayette.