Natchez Trace: Napier Mine, Hohenfeld TN
N 35° 27.036 W 087° 28.177
16S E 457382 N 3923116
The Napier mine operated along the Natchez Trace from the 1820s to the 1920s. Today it is a historic site along the parkway.
Waymark Code: WMWYQF
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 10/31/2017
Views: 0
Two interpretive signs located in a shaded open structure at the parking area for the Napier mind, at mile 381.1 of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
The Napier mine site is a former iron Works that operated along the Natchez trace from around 1820 until the furnace was blown out the last time in 1923.
An open pit mine at this location supplied rich iron ore that yielded over 50 percent iron after processing, for over 100 years.
Today the Napier mine site is one of many historical sites interpreted along the Natchez trace Parkway by the National Park Service. The Napier mine is also the site of an interesting Earthcache.
A nearby interpretive sign reads as follows:
"NAPIER MINE
Just a few feet to your left is the open pit mine which provided most of the ore for the nearby iron making operations.
John Catron
(ca 1786-1865)
The principal promoter of activities here in the 1820s and 1820, catering later became an associate justice of the US Supreme Court. The mind took its name from patrons successors - the Napiers.
[deed]
original deed to the "ore bank" granted in 1826.
Mining at Napier
The shallow nature of the deposits allowed comparatively simple mining operations here. The rich ore yielded over 50 percent iron.
Miners, using pickaxes, secured the ore.
Mule drawn wagons transported the ore out of the pits.
Two men, one right-handed, the other left-handed, used 26 pound sledgehammers to break up the large pieces.
Washing remove dirt, sand, gravel and rock from the or so that it could be smelted.
[photo]
Napier mine in 1924, after mining operations had ceased."
Second interpretive sign reads:
"LAST YEARS AT NAPIER
Operations continued in this area until 1923, when the furnace was "blown out" for the last time.
In 1890, the newly organized Napier ironworks assumed control. A railroad was built from Napier to Summertown to haul Coke to the company's new smelter. (Railroad grade as it looks today.)
Blast furnace of Napier Ironworks and stock of pig iron. When in full production, the company employed 60 men in the minds and 100 at the furnace
Nearby sites
Visit the Metal Ford section of the old Natchez Trace. Take the road marked "Metal Ford Access Road".
Millrace, Steele's iron works and Metal Ford are sites connected with early iron mining and other activities along the old Trace."
Program: America's Byways
Website: [Web Link]
Official Name: Natchez Trace Parkway
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