Furnace Flat

In this area, what may have been the first use of hot blast to smelt copper adjacent to a mine in the United States took place. During the winter of 1833-1834, Isaac Tyson, Jr., invented a hot-blast system for smelting copper. Assisted by smelting foreman Daniel Long and others, Tyson produced copper on the south side of the Ompompanoosuc River through the 1830s using ore from nearby Copperas Hill and anthracite coal from Pennsylvania. Several more smelters were located at Furnace Flat on the north side of the river into the 1860s. An important aspect of all operations was the experimental manufacture of byproducts such as sulfur, paint, and sulfuric acid from waste materials. Isaac Tyson, Jr. was elected to the National Mining Hall of Fame in 1996.