Oxford Furnace

Just south across Little Beaver Creek stand the ruins of the last of three Oxford Iron Works furnaces built in the vicinity. Virginia and Pennsylvania investors began the ironworks nearby between 1768 and 1772 as a small bloomery forge. According to local tradition, James Callaway built the first blast furnace a mile south before the Revolutionary War. David Ross, a Petersburg entrepreneur, bought the property and built the second furnace on another branch of the creek by late 1776. Thomas Jefferson praised Oxford iron for its high quality. William Ross, an heir of David Ross, and his partners operated the third furnace from about 1836 to 1875.