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<DIV>Dave,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for your information. Learning about the existence of the old
furnace in Graham, Va., made me interested in learning about its
location. Using what you furnished, along with Google Earth and an N&W
track chart, I located a scrapyard (present-day recycling center, former
junkyard) on the south side of the tracks just west of Furnace St. grade
crossing. Furnace St. crosses the tracks near the east end of
Furnace siding at about MP N-366.6 . In view of your
information about the scrapyard and the name of the crossing, it appears as
though this scrapyard is on the site of the former furnace.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thistle St. crossing, where the present-day foundry is located, is
about 0.4 miles west of Furnace St. crossing.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Gordon Hamilton</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">NW
Mailing List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org
href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">WESTERN HISTORICAL SOCIETYNORFOLK
&amp</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, April 19, 2009 1:27
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> The Graham Furnace</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
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<DIV>The Graham Furnace was located on the property which belonged to
the Platnick Brothers Steel company. A consortium of Jewish immigrant
brothers [Nathan, David, Phillip and Ben] Platnick formed a family
partnership prior to World War One, and were engaged in the business of
collecting and reselling scrap metals. When the Graham Furnace was no
longer a profitable business and was shut down, this group of
men bid on a contract to dismantle and salvage the Graham Furnace.
They also purchased the buildings an property of the former Graham
Furnace, located on Furnace Avenue in Bluefield, Virginia.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Graham Furnace went out of business for the following reasons:
The ores brought to the Graham Furnace ( an iron ore
smelter) from nearby counties in Virginia were very high in sulfur
content. The high sulfur content made the iron extracted during
smelting unfit for some steel making applications, whereas ore bodies
discovered and developed elsewhere in America yielded a higher iron
content per ton of iron ore, and a much lower sulfur content than
those mined in Virginia.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Around 1916-1917, the very rich-in iron, but low sulfur ores of the
enormous Messabe Iron Ore Range deposits reached development
and production; thus making them available for shipment by Great Lakes
Ore Carriers to the steel making centers which were closer to the Great
Lakes than they were to Virginia. The combination of proximity,lower
transportation costs and the chemical properties, all gave the
advantage to the ores shipping from the Messabe Range mines.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Graham Furnace could not continue to profitably compete
and closed down.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Platnick Brothers Steel, bid on and won the contract to dismantle
and salvage the Graham Furnace, and at the time the work was completed
they bought the buildings, equipment and land associated with the Graham
Furnace. Platnick Brothers Steel operated from that location
until they also went out of business. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The property is now occupied by another "Metals" related business
but still has the same boundaries as it had when the Platnick brothers
owned it. The Keys Lumber Company was locally known as the Keys
Planing Mill and the Thistle Furnace & Foundry was originally
known as the Thistle Plow and Foundry. Thistle is still in operation at
a different location in Bluefield, Virginia, and no longer has a direct
service connection from the railroad.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I have recently spoken with employees of Thistle by telephone and
with a surviving son of David Platnick to verify the history. All of the
original Platnick brothers are deceased but there are other companies
that devolved from the original company; At least one of them
is still operating in the area.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I hope this will help whoever is interested in the Graham Furnace
question.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dave Braum <A
href="mailto:dcbraum@yahoo.com">dcbraum@yahoo.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR>
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