Former Town of Shenandoah resident Keith Hockman and a few volunteers have spent several months clearing brush, honeysuckle, and weeds from around the Historic Catherine Furnace and adjacent areas. Keith and volunteers have restored the campsite and have crafted log benches from downed trees around the area.
Inscription on the Civil War Marker at the site:
“Catherine Furnace Underground Railroad for Union Soldiers- Built in 1846, Catherine Furnace was one of three Page County furnaces in operation during the Civil War. The 30-foot-tall main stack is nearly all that remains of the cold blast furnace and once-huge operation here, when 22,500 acres supplied wood for charcoal, iron ore, and limestone, and food. With labor scarce, local whites, free blacks and slaves worked here to furnish the Confederacy with pig iron.
Wagons transported the pig iron to Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, the “Ironmaker of the Confederacy” and largest such operation in the South. The furnace also produced solid cannon shot and perhaps a few cannon tubes. Furnace #2 on Naked Creek made cannon balls as well.
Ironmaster Noah Foltz, a secret Union sympathizer, helped Federal soldiers escape from Page County, across the Massanutten Mountain to Fort Valley. After he mistakenly helped Confederates disguised as Union soldiers “escape,” however, Foltz was arrested but was soon released on bond to continue work at the furnace. The 1st Vermont Cavalry made the only known attempt to destroy the furnace on May 7, 1862. However, because of the ensuing engagement at Somerville Heights, the cavalry contingent never reached here.”
Catherine Furnace is located in George Washington National Forest, just follow Newport Road (State Route 685) to cub Run Road.
Physical Coordinates: 38.557502, -78.635560
Physical Coordinates: 38.557502, -78.635560
If the name Hockman sounds familiar, Keith’s mother was Betty Lou Dofflemoyer Hockman and was a teacher at Shenandoah Elementary School for many years. She was also a member of the Shenandoah Town Council and was a member of Shenandoah Centennial Association History Committee in 1984. She passed away in May 1996.
The below six pictures were taken on June 13, 2025 and shows how much work the volunteers have done over the past several months.
The above picture shows Keith Hockman sitting on one of the many log benches the volunteers made from downed tree . Photo was taken on Friday June 13, 2025.
Keith Hockman standing in front of Catherine Furnace. Photo was taken on Friday June 13, 2025.
The below four pictures were taken in August 2014 and shows how much the vegetation had grown around the furnace at that time.
The above image of the hand print was taken by Shenandoah Newz in June 2020.
The below comments were written on Cenantua's Blog by Robert H. Moore, II. Titled One site, multiple angles for interpretation.
“This image is of the upper iron support beam, just inside the furnace opening seen in the first photo above. It might be hard to make out, but there is an impression of a hand in this beam. Local legend says that Foltz was forced to put his hand in an iron casting as a reminder of his actions against the Confederacy. I don't think you can see it at all, but there is, what appears to be a rat's tail, underneath the hand. While I seriously doubt they made him put his hand in hot iron, I think the image was made in a mold, in which iron was poured. Whether it is Foltz's hand impression... well, we may never know.”
Cenantua's Blog by Robert H. Moore
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As reported on WHSV-TV website June 12, 2025, By Kayla Brown.
SHENANDOAH, Va. (WHSV) - A small group in Page County is working to restore the area around a Civil War-era furnace off Newport Road. The Catherine Furnace is all that’s left of a large operation the Confederacy used to melt iron and make cannonballs.
The property is owned by the Virginia Forest Service, but over the years, it’s fallen into disarray. Honeysuckle, weeds and brush began to overrun the furnace and surrounding area.
Robert Hockman grew up around the furnace. When he noticed all the overgrowth, he decided to clean it up. Hockman and other volunteers have been working for around three months cleaning brush, restoring the campsite and crafting wood benches to make the area more appealing.
Hockman said visitors used to come to the site from “all over” — with some as far as Wyoming — to camp and fish at a nearby stream during trout season.
“People were scared. They’d park ... and they would be afraid to walk and look back there because they didn’t know what was back there. It was grown up so bad,” Hockman said.
Hockman is now advocating to add trash cans in the area to reduce litter. He said he plans to keep maintaining the land, even after restorations are complete.
The Catherine Furnace was built in 1846 and stands at about 30 feet tall. It’s one of three in Page County. Hockman said it means a lot to him to maintain part of the area’s history.
Copyright 2025 WHSV. All rights reserved.
Article as posted on WHSV website:
Restoration underway campsite near civil war era furnace
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