SOME NOTES UPON THE IRON MANUFACTURE
    IN THE KENTUCKY DIVISION OF THE
        HANGING ROCK IRON DISTRICT.


 The Hanging Rock Iron District takes its name from a
 peculiarly shaped rock exposure upon the Ohio river, near
which is now the village of the same name. Some of the
early furnaces were located near and had here their landing
place. The name Hanging Rock pig iron was applied to the
product of these furnaces, and as the number of furnaces
increased the name was still retained, until now it is applied
to all the iron produced in a number of adjoining counties, in
both Ohio and Kentucky. The region now embraces in Ohio
the whole or parts of Scioto, Lawrence, Gallia, Jackson, Vin-
ton, and Hocking counties, and in Kentucky, the counties of
Greenup, Boyd, and Carter, and it will, without doubt, eventu-
ally extend still further to the southward.
In this region the native ores of the coal measures are those
in most general use. They are used exclusively by the char-
coal, and very largely by the stone-coal, furnaces.
The Hanging Rock iron has an excellent reputation through-
out the West. It is used for a variety of purposes; but perhaps
more generally for foundry purposes than any other. For gen-
eral foundry use, combining strength with fluidity and small
shrinkage in cooling, it is probably unsurpassed in this country,
if anywhere. It can also be used with a considerable propor-
tion of scrap without injury to the resulting castings.
Certain brands of the cold blast charcoal iron have a national
reputation for the manufacture of car-wheels, for which purpose
they are unsurpassed.
The iron from the stone-coal furnaces of this region is used
for both foundry and mill purposes, but most largely in the
mills, for conversion into wrought iron. The fuel in use at a
majority of the furnaces is charcoal. It was upon charcoal iron
                                                       319