N&W in 1909--Big Stony

NW Mailing List nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Wed Apr 15 10:54:40 EDT 2009


I lived in Bluefield, VA (as Graham became known, of course....) growing up
but never heard of an iron furnace. Where was it located?

Thanks,

Dave Phelps


In a message dated 4/14/2009 9:13:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org writes:

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
July 22, 1909

THE GRAHAM DAILY NEWS
------
Iron Furnace May Resume
The article in yesterday's Telegraph to the effect that the Big Stony
Railroad was nearing completion, was read with considerable interest by the
people of Graham, for it is believed that the penetrating of the Potts
Creek ore beds means the putting into blast of the Graham iron furnace just as
soon as the ore from that region is available. The furnace property is
owned by the Virginia Iron, Coal and Coke Company, and it is known that the
owners have refused to consider offers to lease or sell the property during
the past year, which is taken to mean that they expect to operate it
themselves as soon as the Potts Creek ore can be gotten. In years past, while
the furnace was in blast, the ore came from the Toledo Lakes and it is said
the freight rates were so high from that point to Graham that it was found
impossible to run the furnace at a profit, hence its operation was
abandoned. The Graham furnace when in full blast employs close to 200 men and its
operation means a good deal to the town in an industrial way.

[The previous posting on "Big Stony" should have mentioned that additional
information on the interesting Potts Valley branch line can be found in
John Joseph's article in the July/August 2002 issue of The Arrow.]
-----

Crowd Will Go to Roanoke
Quite a crowd from Graham will take advantage of the low rate offered
by the Norfolk and Western and go to Roanoke today to see the baseball game
and other good things to be seen there.
------
Gordon Hamilton


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