Beckley Furnace Waterfalls - Canaan CT
Posted by: 
nomadwillie
N 42° 00.650 W 073° 17.486
18T E 641477 N 4652391
The furnace sits on the banks of the Blackberry River and was part of a large iron making operation in the 19th century. The falls were created to feed the furnace with power.
Waymark Code: WMKWV9
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 06/04/2014
Views: 2
The furnace was built in 1847 by John Beckley and William Pierce. It was located in an ideal area for the time, with the Blackberry River for powering the furnace, unlimited lime was located just a short distance up the road, and an iron mine was located close by. By 1880 the mining was having to dig deeper and deeper for iron ore, charcoal was brought in from Pennsylvania and Vermont and the river and its power could not be expanded, so it became very costly to produce the iron. Most of the other furnaces in the area closed down. Beckley, along with Canaan #3, continued operations until 1920-23.
Originally the furnace was enclosed by buildings, today the stack remains as the remnants of the site. The stack itself is 40 feet high, built with rough-surfaced limestone with pointed arches on each of its four sides.
Location of the waterfall:
Lower Rd
Canaan, CT
Type / features of structure: Dam
Estimated height in feet: 10
Estimated height in meters: 3.00
Estimated width in feet: 50
Estimated width in meters: 15
River/stream/lake/reservoir: Blackberry River
Coordinates of parking: Not Listed
Fees: Not Listed
Flow dates: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
To log this waymark, you will need to be able to prove to the waymark owner that you were at the waterfall in question. An original photo of the waterfall with your GPS in the photo would count as proof. Or a logged visit to a geocache in the area of the waterfall could also count as proof of a visit.