Hope Furnace

The Hope Furnace is near Zaleski, Ohio at Lake Hope.

  In the 1850’s the furnaces were used to
produce iron for the nation’s growing railroad system.
The railroads in turn provided transportation for iron
exports linking the southeast Ohio to distant markets
that could be reached by way of the Ohio River, or the
Great Lakes. During the Civil War the furnaces provided
iron for canons and other military equipment used by
the Union Army, including the iron plating that
sheathed the army’s famous iron-clad warship, the Monitor.
Hope Furnace closed in 1874 and the last of the furnaces
closed in 1916.
The forest’s around the furnaces provided  wood to
fire the furnaces and provided jobs for this area
of the state. Though it provided jobs for the area
and towns grew around the Furnaces the homes 
and stores built there  were owned by the
companies that paid the workers with company script.
The script was suppose to be used to purchase over priced
goods from the company owned stores but in fact the script
was worthless and could not be used in the stores.