TreeAlive
← All Virginia markers

Spotswood's Furnace

Spotsylvania County · 5.4 miles west of Fredericksburg. · location approximate

Directions to the area ↗

Four miles west, on this side road, is the site of an ancient iron furnace established about 1716 by Governor Alexander Spotswood, the first fully equipped iron furnace in the colonies. Iron was hauled along this road to the Rappahannock River for shipment. William Byrd visited the furnace in 1732 and described it.

1948 text, presented as a historical document.

Many of these markers have since been replaced or their texts revised. The marker program and its current texts are maintained by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Virginia Department of Historic Resources ↗

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: Virginia Department of Conservation and Development, State Historical Markers of Virginia, 6th ed. (1948)

See your own family's places through time.

Start with your family tree