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PIGEON FORGE, TENNESSEE—Iron Forge, the original iron forge in the city of Pigeon Forge, was built on the Little Pigeon River in 1817. A team of archaeologists spent a day investigating the site. “There’s iron ore all along the ridge up there by Middle Creek Road, and they would just bring that down here and put it in the forge,” said archaeologist and blacksmith Alan Longmire of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The team identified the location of the forge’s furnace, water wheel, where water drained, and wooden artifacts, including the beam on which the water wheel turned. The information will be combined into a map of the site. Further excavation will require additional funding.
