Summer of 21 - #23 - Maryland Road Trip - Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery & Trail

May 19th, 2021 - Part 1 of 4

I organised a day trip incorporating other places we wanted to visit.  We knew it would be a long day but were going to take it one stop at a time.  If we decided we had had enough we would head home and return another day to finish.  Let's see how far we got!!!

All of our stops were across the State line and into Maryland.      

                                

Our first stop was the Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery and Trail. Here's a LINK to read more about it.

As you can see there wasn't much left of the house.

We decided to walk some of the trail.

We started from the Ironmaster's Manor House and walked along the trail, over the Bowstring Arch Bridge and up to the road.

There was a nice stream flowing under the bridge.

Slag Heaps

   

"(The slag you see is a historic resource.  Please do not remove any of it.)

The mounds you see around you are the furnace's waste product - slag.  When iron ore is superheated in the furnace and fluxed with limestone, the molten iron sinks and impurities rise.  Skimmed and discarded, the slag hardens into a glassy or alry rock similar to volcanic glass or lava rock."

We walked as far as the road where there was a high footbridge, with lots of steep steps, that crossed to the other side.  As we didn't know how far the walk was on the other side of the road we decided to stop and go back. We were pacing ourselves as this is the first stop today and we want to enjoy the other places as well.

On the way back the path forked and we took the other path back toward the car park. We came across this open area with more ruins.

We could see there was another parking area and more signage so we walked back to the car and drove it around to this second area.  

There was a lot more information, including that it seemed there was a cemetery on the other side of the road.  

If we had seen this sign before we walked the trail, we may have pushed ourselves to go across the bridge over the road. Maybe it was a good thing we didn't though, as it would have taken a long time and I doubt we would have seen everything else we wanted to do today. 

Old Furnace

It was strange as the pictures show the green moss on the walls but to the naked eye the walls were there natural color, and you couldn't see the moss.  Bryan noticed it as he was taking the pictures and showed me. 

Well, that was a good start to our day.  Next stop Cunningham Falls. 

See you there......