N&W in 1909--Big Stony

[NW Mailing List]

Gordon,
Having lived in Bluefield,VA back in the late 1950's and early 1960's, I recall the area around Thistle Foundry (and Keys Lumber Mill on the opposite side of the tracks) being referred to as Furnace (shown as a distance of 4.12 miles from Bluefield, WV in the employee timetable no. 21, dated Oct. 27, 1963). That would be about right for the Thistle location. I used to walk by that area every day when I attended Dudley Elem. way back when.

Allen Evans
Federal Way, WA

To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Re: N&W in 1909--Big Stony
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:52:18 -0400
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org










I don't know the location of the Graham 
furnace, but I am attaching two items from Google Books on it.  Because the 
furnace incorporated a foundry, I thought it might have been on the 
location of the present-day Thistle foundry, but I found a item that the Thistle 
Foundry and Machine Company was founded in 1899 with that name whereas the 
furnace was founded in 1890 and named Graham Iron Furnace.  So, the furnace 
appears to have been separate from the Thistle foundry.  Incidentally, the 
same item reveals that the Thistle foundry was founded by J. P. Cameron, who 
hailed from Aberdeen, Scotland.  Considering that the national flower 
of Scotland is the thistle, the unusual name of the foundry is 
understandable.
 
Gordon Hamilton

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: 
  NW 
  Mailing List 
  To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:54 
  AM
  Subject: Re: N&W in 1909--Big 
  Stony
  

  I lived in Bluefield, VA (as Graham became known, of course....) growing 
  up but never heard of an iron furnace.  Where was it located?
   
  Thanks,
   
  Dave Phelps
   
  
  In a message dated 4/14/2009 9:13:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
  writes:
  
    Bluefield Daily Telegraph
July 22, 
    1909
     
    THE GRAHAM DAILY NEWS
    ------
    Iron Furnace May Resume
        The article in yesterday's Telegraph to 
    the effect that the Big Stony Railroad was nearing completion, was read with 
    considerable interest by the people of Graham, for it is believed that the 
    penetrating of the Potts Creek ore beds means the putting into blast of the 
    Graham iron furnace just as soon as the ore from that region is 
    available.  The furnace property is owned by the Virginia Iron, Coal 
    and Coke Company, and it is known that the owners have refused to consider 
    offers to lease or sell the property during the past year, which is taken to 
    mean that they expect to operate it themselves as soon as the Potts Creek 
    ore can be gotten.  In years past, while the furnace was in blast, the 
    ore came from the Toledo Lakes and it is said the freight rates were so high 
    from that point to Graham that it was found impossible to run the furnace at 
    a profit, hence its operation was abandoned.  The Graham furnace when 
    in full blast employs close to 200 men and its operation means a good deal 
    to the town in an industrial way.
     
    [The previous posting on "Big Stony" should have 
    mentioned that additional information on the interesting Potts Valley branch 
    line can be found in John Joseph's article in the July/August 2002 issue of 
    The Arrow.]
    -----
     
    Crowd Will Go to Roanoke
        Quite a crowd from Graham will take 
    advantage of the low rate offered by the Norfolk and Western and go to 
    Roanoke today to see the baseball game and other good things to be seen 
    there.
    ------
    Gordon 
    Hamilton

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