In the 19th century, dozens of iron furnaces and forges dotted the New River Valley because of its high mineral content, and the town of Foster Falls grew from this iron industry. The Foster Falls furnace, built by the Foster Falls Mining and Manufacturing Co. in 1880-1881, was originally operated by water power from the New River. In 1889, it was sold to the Virginia Iron Coal and Coke Co., which increased the furnace's capacity by eliminating the water-powered bellows and replacing them with steam-operated boilers in a process then known as hot blasting. In 1887, a railroad built a dinky rail bridge across the river to the hematite ore mines one-quarter mile above the Foster Falls station. The furnace produced 12 tons of pig iron per day, and the iron was transported to manufacturing centers in St. Louis, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. In 1916, flooding washed out the rail bridge and ended iron operations. A dinky rail was a smaller version of a steam locomotive, popular in the mining industry because of its narrow-gauge tracks and smaller design.