Property Record
CA 420 SANBORN AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
Historic Name: | Ashland Iron and Steel Company Blast Furnace Base |
---|---|
Other Name: | |
Contributing: | |
Reference Number: | 223059 |
Location (Address): | CA 420 SANBORN AVE |
---|---|
County: | Ashland |
City: | Ashland |
Township/Village: | |
Unincorporated Community: | |
Town: | |
Range: | |
Direction: | |
Section: | |
Quarter Section: | |
Quarter/Quarter Section: |
Year Built: | 1886 |
---|---|
Additions: | |
Survey Date: | 2012 |
Historic Use: | lime kiln |
Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
Structural System: | Brick |
Wall Material: | Concrete |
Architect: | |
Other Buildings On Site: | |
Demolished?: | Yes |
Demolished Date: | 2022 |
National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
---|---|
National Register Listing Date: | |
State Register Listing Date: |
Additional Information: | This is the base of the smoke stack for the blast furnace of Ashland Iron and Steel. The Ashland Iron & Steel Company was established in 1886 and commenced work on the world’s largest charcoal-iron blast furnace later that year. The City of Ashland donated fourteen blocks to the company so it could utilize the area’s vast deposit of iron ore and timber to produce steel and iron. Initially, the company obtained charcoal from area suppliers, but by 1901 had constructed sixty charcoal kilns on the plant site. The number of kilns had increased to eighty-four by 1909, by which time the name of the firm had changed to the Lake Superior Iron & Chemical Company. It became the Charcoal Iron Company of America by 1923 and ceased production in the early-to-mid 1930s due to exhaustion of the area’s hardwood forest. The plant was demolished sometime between 1939 and 1946. Surveyed by Heritage Research (2012). 2017: Not resurveyed; private property with no permission to access. |
---|---|
Bibliographic References: | Sanborn Maps. Aerial Photos. |
Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |