Cumberland Furnace
The first iron furnace on the western Highland Rim was at Cumberland Furnace in Dickson County. The village still preserves many aspects of life in the 19th Century
Cumberland Furnace is located on highway 48 in Dickson County north of Charlotte
Below is a walking tour of the village, developed by the Dickson County Chamber of Commerce
The Drouillard House was build in 1868-1870 as a country retreat for the affluent Drouillard family and their house guests from Nashville. Designed in the Italianate style, the Drouillard House is like the summer homes that Mrs. Drouillard visited at Newport, Rhode Island. In 1997 the mansion was restored to its original granduer by Robert and Linda Leftwich. Visitation by appointment.
2. St. James Episcopal Church
St. James Episcopal Church was built in 1879 by the Drouillard family for the people of Cumberland Furnace. Regular worship services are still held.
3. Van Lier Academy
James P. Drouillard and his wife Mary Florence Kirkman built a school for the children of the district known as Van Lier Academy, about 1880. The trustees were J.P. Drouillard, R.B. Stone, A.B. Russell, T.S. Curtis, and B.W.S. Nicks. On March 21, 1881, they applied for a state charter for its incorporation as an institution of higher learning. On August 19, 1882, the Drouillard Iron Company granted permission to Iron Lodge No. 503 Free and Accepted Mason to build their lodge over the school for the sole use as a meeting hall. On the cessation of the institution of higher learning the first floor became a grade school which stayed open until 1948.
4. Hand House
This house, built in 1829 is one of the oldest buildings in Cumberland Furnace. It has served not only as a residence but as a tavern as well. The bricks in the three brick thick walls are all handmade.
5. Grimes House
The Grimes House is a double-pen log cabin. The basic construction of this house probably predates the Civil War, but many modifications made it hard to date. It is a good example of folk architecture. Locally it is also known as "Thompson House."
6. Ferrell House
The Ferrell House is a dogtrot log cabin constructed by combining two single-pen cabins under one roof. Both cabins were laid with half dovetail joints and have gable-end brick and stone composite chimneys. These two cabins were combined in 1896, but the original dates of construction are unknown.
7. Stark's Cabin
The Stark's Cabin is a single pen, one and one half story log cabin. It has dovetail notching and a cut stone chimney. Local informants believed it to have been built before the Civil War.
8. Stark's Store
The Stark's Store was built circa 1915 by Hubert Stark and his wife Mary. The building is a linear shaped, glass front turn-of-the-century small store built of concrete block molded to resemble ashlar stone. Today the building is used as a community center.
9. Stark's Residents
The Stark's Residence was built circa 1920 by the Starks while they operated the store next door.
10. Daniel's Store
The Daniel's Store building was built by henry hunt circa 1920 and was originally a soda fountain. It was purchased by Jesse Daniel around 1927 who opened it as a grocery store which stayed open until approximately 1961.
11. Site of Montgomery Bell Furnace
Between 1810 and 1820 Montgomery Bell built a large furnace about 1/2/ mile east of Robertson Furnace (see #17). The house known as the John Cannon House, east of the Methodist Church (see #14), is built on this site. Anthony Van Leer and his partners bought the furnace and village from Bell in 1825.
12. Company Office
The two-story brick building is part of the second furnace complex built by Montgomery Bell between 1810-1820. Probably built by Anthony Van Leer, it originally had three front entrances and was used as an office, company store, and hotel for visiting business agents. After its use as a commercial building it became a private residence. The rear window was enlarged for a second story entrance.
13.Old Brick Utility Building
This old structure is Cumberland Furnace's Mystery House. It was part of the second furnace complex but the date of construction is unknown. An 1892 deed refers to it as "the store." Local tradition says it was built before the Civil War and used through the years as a smoke house, slave quarters, blacksmith shop and storehouse.
14. Cumberland Furnace Methodist Church
In 1911 Cumberland Furnace Methodist Church was organized by Rev. W.M. Martin, Mrs. R.B. Stone and others. There were 35 charter members who worshipped in the schoolhouse near the Episcopal Church (see #2) until the church building was built.
15. Stone's Chapel Church
In 1902 a portion of land was given to the black citizens of Cumberland Furnace by R.B. Stone and E.H. Stone for the purpose of building a methodist Church. This church was built and named Stone Chapel Northern Methodist Episcopal Church with Dan Bradley, George Dixon, Jesse Bradley, their successors and other members of the church named as trustees.
16. Van Lier Cemetery
This old cemetery, covering several acres on the hillside above the Robertson Furnace is believed to be the first community cemetery in Dickson County. It received its name from the Van Leer (Van Lier) family Isaac Van Leer and this wife Elizabeth Culbertson are believed to be buried here since Van Leer family records in Chester County, Pennsylvania state that they were buried in Cumberland Furnace. James Hillman, the youngest of the Hillman family died at the age of 21 and is buried in the grave enclosed by the ornate wrought iron fence. The Hillmans were from New Jersey and had large iron interests in Tennessee and Kentucky. Nathan Bedford Forrest camped at Cumberland Furnace on his way to Nashville after his escape from Fort Donelson. James C. Peacher, 2nd Kentucky Calvary, CSA and several other soldiers of Forrest's command are buried in this hillside cemetery.
17. Site of Robertson Furnace Site.
James Robertson started construction of his Cumberland Iron Works in 1793 and based on the best available information the first furnace in Middle Tennessee went in blast sometime in 1796. It was a small truncated pyramidal cold blast furnace built of local limestone and charcoal fired. Bellows operated by a water wheel furnished the air for the blast. Its location was on the side of a small cliff just east of Stack Spring, the operation's water source. In 1804 Robertson sold the iron works to Montgomery Bell. Bell made improvements and increased its production. Anthony Van Leer dismantled the furnace in the 1830s.
18. Railroad Section House
This is a good example of a small turn-of-the-century company built residence. This house was built circa 1900 and is associated with the final phase of operation at Cumberland furnace.
19. Cumberland Furnace Train Depot
In 1890 the future of the iron industry in this area prompted the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to build the Clarksville Mineral Branch, with a six mile spur to cumberland Furnace, from Hematite on its Memphis line south to Pond Switch where it connected to N.C. and St. L. Railroad. The railroad gave passenger and freight service to the northern section of the county. By August 1891, the Southern Iron Company shipped its pig iron by local rail. The railroad not only benefitted the iron business but soon made the town a shipping center of the area. The terminal included 8,200 feet of trackage of which more than a half mile was for tobacco and other warehouses. The present depot was built in 1920 and is the last of the stations located on the old railroad right-of-way. The original depot burned in April 1919 when a load of hot slag fell on it. Service to Cumberland Furnace was discontinued in 1931 and by 1936 all trackage had been removed.
20. Cumberland Furnace Commissary
the Cumberland furnace Commissary was built circa 1870 approximately across the street from Daniel's store (see #10). It was moved to its present location in 1907 and was used as a company store until the 1920s. It is the only surviving example of this type of construction recorded during a recent iron industry survey of Middle Tennessee. The building also housed the business office and the Post Office.
21. Site of Warner Iron Company Furnace
When the railroad came to Cumberland Furnace in 1891, the Southern Iron Company built a modern coke furnace that went in blast in 1892. Heavily in debt to Central Trust Bank of New York, the panic of 1892 forced Southern Iron to turn over operation of the furnace to Buffalo Iron Company in 1893. Joseph Warner of Warner Iron Company became the owner in 1899 but poor health and the depression of the 1930's, loss of the railroad and a lawsuit forced the aging Warner to close production in 1938. The furnace was dismantled in 1943 and sold for scrap.
22. Warner Summer Home
This house was built circa 1900 by ironmaster Joseph Warner and was used during the final phase of operation of the ironworks at Cumberland Furnace.
23. Rector's Blacksmith Shop
James (Jimmy) Anthony Rector owned and operated the last blacksmith shop in Cumberland Furnace. At the age of thirteen he worked at the furnace as a helper in the mechanical department. In 1924 Warner Iron Co Closed the furnace wor seven years as the result of a lawsuit. To support his large family Rector, in 1925, opened the blacksmith shop that included "fittingup," making horseshoes, shoeing horses, metal forging, repairing and making steel tire wagons. Jimmy Rector retired in 1962 at the age of 82.