In 1845, Lemuel Pomeroy II built the first iron furnace near this location. The blast furnace stack visible today dates to about 1871, when Frederick Miles made improvements to the Copake Iron Works after purchasing the site from Pomeroy. The 32-foot-tall furnace was once clad in marble blocks and had an uncommon system for controlling hearth temperature with metal cases filled with water. The furnace operated until 1903 and, at the height of its operation, produced about 3,750 tons of iron per year. Behind the furnace stand stone retaining walls that once supported a covered wooden charging deck, where carts of crushed iron ore, limestone, and charcoal were wheeled through and dumped into the charging hole at the top of the blast furnace.