Janney Furnace Park

United States historic place


Eli Henderson Park at Janney Furnace
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

The remaining stone structure of the blast furnace at Eli Henderson Park at Janney Furnace.
33°47′41″N 86°1′14″W / 33.79472°N 86.02056°W / 33.79472; -86.02056
Area	3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built	1863 (1863)
NRHP reference No.	76000315^[1]
Added to NRHP	September 28, 1976

Eli Henderson Park at Janney Furnace is a park surrounding a fifty-foot tall stone furnace in Ohatchee, Alabama, United States. The furnace was built in 1863 by Alfred Janney to produce pig iron due to the prevalence of iron ore in what is now the park. A July 1864 Union raid destroyed all but the stone chimney, which still remains.^[2] The furnace is now surrounded by the Calhoun County Confederate Memorial, built by Sons of Confederate Veterans in June 2003; and the 2009 Confederate and Native American Museum, which includes Civil War and Native American artifacts dating back to the Iron Age.^[3] The Confederate Memorial is the world's largest black granite confederate memorial.^[4] The furnace was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and the surrounding park was re-named in honor of Eli Henderson in 2020, who sought to preserve it.^[1]^[5]

Gallery

The descriptive plaque stating the history of Janney Furnace.
The reservoir (formerly filled with water) at Janney Furnace Park. The water in this reservoir powered a steam engine which ran the billows for the furnace. The reservoir was dug by hand.
The black granite Calhoun County Confederate Memorial at Janney Furnace Park.

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
^ Floyd, W. Warner (February 3, 1976). "Janney Furnace". National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. National Park Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014. See also: "Accompanying photos". Archived (PDF) from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
^ Catoe, Laura (October 21, 2012). "Ohatchee's Janney Furnace provides look back to Civil War era". Gadsen Times. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
^ "Janney Furnace Memorial Park". Calhoun County, Alabama. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
^ Lockette, Tim (October 8, 2020). "Calhoun commission votes to rename Janney Furnace Park for Eli Henderson". The Anniston Star. Retrieved February 11, 2022.