Step back in time at the Maryland Iron Festival

Lauren LaRocca, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·4 min read

May 15—Blacksmithing, hearth cooking, artisans, guided hikes and tours — this could only mean one thing: the return Catoctin Furnace Historical Society's annual Maryland Iron Festival.

This two-day, all-ages event is packed with activities at Catoctin Furnace, located at 12610 Catoctin Furnace Road in Thurmont.

Hosted in partnership with Cunningham Falls State Park, Catoctin Mountain Park, Harriet Chapel, Frederick County Public Libraries, the Green-walled Garden Club and Visit Frederick, the festival will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 20 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 21.

The Maryland Iron Festival is a step back in time, where you can watch blacksmithing demos, catch a live iron pour (May 20 only), and enjoy log hewing, ranger-led hikes through Catoctin Mountain Park, tours of historic Harriet Chapel, games and challenges, an artist and maker market, children's activities, open-hearth cooking demonstrations, plein-air artists at work, shopping of handmade goods and educational programs.

The Museum of the Ironworker, featuring new forensic facial reconstructions, will also be open.

In the way of live music, Saturday's lineup will include The Honey Dew Drops at 11 a.m., Eric Byrd Trio at 2 p.m. and Van Wagner at 4:30 p.m. Sunday's offerings include Slim Harrison at noon, Shana Oshiro at 1 p.m. and Ken and Brad Kolodner at 2 p.m.

Food trucks including Sauced Savage BBQ, Fryzaholic and Snowball Waterfalls will be onsite over the weekend. A bake sale with homemade treats from heirloom recipes will be available both days. A wine and beer garden will be open on the furnace green near the ruins.

You can also take a hike along the Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery Interpretive Trail, which links the furnace to the historic village with a trail extension into Cunningham Falls State Park and visits to Catoctin Furnace's historic kitchen and pollinator gardens.

The event is free, but donations are welcome. All proceeds will be used for the ongoing restoration of the historic village structures. For more information, email info@catoctinfurnace.org.

Catoctin Furnace was built by workers owned or employed by the four Johnson brothers in order to produce iron from the rich deposits of iron ore found in the nearby mountains. At least 271 enslaved people of African ancestry made up the bulk of Catoctin Furnace's earliest workers. In the decade before the Civil War, European immigrants began replacing the enslaved and freed African American workers as it was more economical to hire cheap labor than support an enslaved workforce. Descendants of the immigrants still live in the village.

The iron furnace at Catoctin played a pivotal role during the industrial revolution in the young United States. The furnace industry supported a thriving community, and company houses were established alongside the furnace stack. Throughout the nineteenth century, the furnace produced iron for household and industrial products. After more than one hundred years of operation, the Catoctin Furnace ceased production in 1903.

In 1973, the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society was formed by G. Eugene Anderson, Clement E. Gardiner, J. Franklin Mentzer and Earl M. Shankle to foster and promote the restoration of the Catoctin Furnace Historic District.

Today, the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society is undertaking groundbreaking research, including bioarchaeological research of the African-American cemetery in Catoctin Furnace. In partnership with the Smithsonian Institution and the Reich Laboratory for Medical and Population Genetics at Harvard University, this project is analyzing ancient DNA and the human genome of revolutionary-era enslaved African American workers at Catoctin Furnace. Such research, in conjunction with other technologies such as stable isotope analysis, could tell us where these workers were born, where they lived throughout their lives, and what constituted their diet. We believe that every life mattered, and every past matters now. By studying and disseminating the results of this research, we hope that people everywhere will get to meet some of these early workers and understand the critical roles they played in the development of our young nation, as well as appreciate the varied trajectories of their lives.

This year, Catoctin Furnace Historical Society will also host Fall Fest on Oct. 13 and 14, Spirits of the Furnace (a guided nighttime tour) on Oct. 21 and a Traditional Village Christmas on Dec. 2.