N&W in 1909--Big Stony

[NW Mailing List]

Allen and Gordon:
 
I have topographic maps; I'll use your suggestions as clues and see if I  
can zero in.  My "stomping grounds" were more downtown/College Avenue; I  
went to Logan St. Elem. and then 7th grade at (old) Graham High before we moved 
 north.  Oh, for the foresight to have asked for a camera for  
Christmas....hindsight is 20:20.
 
Dave Phelps
 
 
In a message dated 4/15/2009 8:45:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org writes:

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_ (mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org)  
To:  _nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org_ (mailto: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_ (mailto: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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