The OES visited the Hope Furnace on April 6, 2002. We were previously there on March 30, 2002 recording for EVP but took no photographs. On April's return trip, we took plenty of photos. Hope Furnace was founded in 1854 by Colonel Putnam and some others. We believe that Hope Furnace may have been called Big Sand Furnace at one time due to two large rocks that sat in front of the furnace. If you put the rocks together, they said "BIG SAND FURNACE BUILT BY WH WILSON." The furnace remained in operation until 1875, producing some of the finest iron in the world during its day. Fueled by coal from nearby Moonville, Hope Furnace made various pieces of weaponry for the Civil War. On its best day the furnace could produce up to fifteen tons of cast iron a day, operating 24 hours a day. But when the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War came to an end so did the Hope Furnace.

But one worker never left his post, hence the legend of Hope Furnace. Since the furnace ran 24 hours, watchmen were employed to oversee the furnace at night to tend the fires. They used lanterns to guide them along their rounds, which sometimes led them to the top of the furnace. One stormy night a bright bolt of lightening temporarily blinded a watchman as he was doing his rounds. Not being able to see where he was walking he fell into the furnace, the bubbling ore quickly melting his body away. It is said on stormy nights that a dark figure carrying a lantern can be seen walking around the top of the furnace until lightening strikes close by, at which time the figure will disappear. The night we were there, some strange things were picked up on the EVP tape. We also got pretty high EMF readings in the area surrounding the furnace.