Coke Oven Hollow, Indiana

Coke Oven Hollow (also called Foundry) is a ghost town in Penn Township, Parke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.[1]

Coke Oven Hollow, Indiana
Ghost town
Parke County's location in Indiana
Coke Oven Hollow
Location in Parke County
Coordinates: 39°51′11″N 87°17′31″W
CountryUnited States
StateIndiana
CountyParke
TownshipPenn
Elevation653 ft (199 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
47832
Area code(s)765
GNIS feature ID452146

A thriving manufacturing settlement during the 19th century, Coke Oven Hollow is today covered by forest.

History

Sugar Creek Iron Foundry was established at the settlement by 1836. Owned by William G. Coffin, the foundry used pig iron imported from Cincinnati to manufacture ploughs, stoves and various milling and gearing items.[2][3] Finished product was transported to markets in Indianapolis, Richmond, and Cincinnati by way of the nearby Sugar Creek, which joined the Wabash River 4 mi (6.4 km) west.[2][3]

By 1837, a coal mine was noted at the settlement, used for the production of coke.[4][5]

A pottery had been established at nearby Annapolis since 1841. Potters' clay mined at Garrard Quarry in Coke Oven Hollow was used there to manufacture stoneware.[6][7][8]

A flatboat builder was also located at Coke Oven Hollow.[5]

Industrial activities declined by the early 1900s, and the settlement today is covered by mature forest, and is located within the 93-acre (38 ha) Mossy Point Nature Preserve.[5][9]

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Coke Oven Hollow
  2. "Sugar Creek Iron Foundry". Crawfordsville Record. May 14, 1836.
  3. Cox, E. T. (1872). Annual Reports of the Geological Survey of Indiana, Made During the Years 1871 and 1872. R. J. Bright. pp. 364.
  4. Day, Davit T. (1887). Mineral Resources of the United States. United States Bureau of Mines. p. 395.
  5. Wheat, Brent (February 22, 2015). "Mossy Point Nature Preserve: Tough to Find but Worth the Trouble". Wild Indiana.
  6. Blatchley, W. S. (1905). Annual Report, Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources (PDF). Wm. B. Burford. p. 103.
  7. Forney, Gerald G.; Jenkins, Danial T.; Nitecki, Matthew H. (May 20, 1977). "Type Fossil Miscellanea (Worms, Problematica, Conoidal Shells, Trace Fossils) in Field Museum". Fieldiana Geology. 37 (1): 1–41.
  8. McGregor, John R. (1998). "Analysis of Stoneware Pottery of West Central Indiana" (PDF). Ohio Valley Historical Archaeology. 6: 97–100. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-16. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  9. "Mossy Point Nature Preserve" (PDF). Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved September 15, 2017.


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