Alabama Blast Furnaces

Knight Furnace: (Known also as Choccolocco Iron Works) Talladega County, near Munford

KNIGHT FURNACE (Known also as Choccolocco Iron Works) Talladega County, near Munford 1863 or 1864 J.L. and W. C. Orr together with Samuel Hunter bought in 1854 the property of a Mr. Bagby, "twelve miles northeast of Talladega, on Choccolocco Creek, on which they have erected a large and capacious building, and have procured all the machinery that can be profitably used in manufacturing Cotton Gins." The Orr brothers died just after the Civil War began. The administrator of the estate sold on March 11, 1863 the lands and the mill to Jacob B. and Benjamin Knight for $20,000. It is said that the Knight brothers refugeed from New Orleans after the surrender of that city in 1862, bringing with them a number of slaves and considerable cash. The gin manufactory was converted into a cotton spinning mill. Shortly after the purchase of the gin manufactory, the Knight brothers began the erection of a stone furnace. The site they chose was directly across Choccolocco Creek from the cotton mill and about 75 yards below the mill dam. The Confederate Government supplied a portion of the capital which was to be repaid in pig iron. The finished iron necessary to construct the furnace had to be requisitioned through the Nitre and Mining Bureau. The following letter illustrates this rigid control: "Choccolocco Iron Works, Talladega County, Ala. July 13, 1863 Maj. W. R. Hunt, In Charge Iron & Mining, Selma, Alabama We require at our works 2 wrought iron plates 15" wide 3/ 8 thick and 5 ft. long. Iron sufficient for 24 cooling shovels. Very respectfully, J. B. Knight & Co." This bill of iron was authorized to be supplied by the Shelby Iron Co. The furnace was located two and one-half miles northwest of the town of Munford and three and one-fourth miles due west of the Salt Creek Iron Works. The stack was approximately 30' x 7' and lined with brick made within one-half mile of the furnace site. The little plant went into operation early in 1864 or possibly during the last days of 1863. The daily capacity was between 5 and 7 tons of cold blast pig iron. _.o+~ 94 r).o,- KNIGHT FURNACE Ore was obtained in part from small brown hematite deposits near the plant and in part from ore beds east of the Salt Creek furnace, about four miles distant. Ore and charcoal were hauled by teams to the bank directly behind the furnace, the bank having been cut away to make a level storage yard. The usual line of domestic and agricultural implements was cast here. As was common practice of that day a semi-forge operated in connection with the furnace to proquce such articles as hinges, tire iron, etc. The Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad was already in operation as far as Blue Mountain 'near the present site of Anniston. This line ran within three miles of the furnace and the bulk of the iron made here was hauled by teams to this railroad and transhipped to the arsenal at Selma. It is known that the cotton mill and furnace were destroyed by Federal raiders and it is supposed that this was done at the same time the Salt Creek Iron Works was burned, sometime late in April of 1865. That the Yankee raiders did a thorough job of destroying may be judged by the fact that the public sale of the Knight property in 1869 brought exactly $303.00. Today the remains of the old dam may be seen and below that on the east bank of Choccolocco Creek a heap of stones which mark the furnace site. 95 ...