Knoxville Iron Company
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Knoxville Iron Foundry Complex-Nail Factory and Warehouse
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"The Foundry," an event center originally built as a nail factory by the Knoxville Iron Company in 1875
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| Location | 715 Western Ave., NW, Knoxville, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates | 35°57′55″N 83°55′36″W / 35.96528°N 83.92667°WCoordinates: 35°57′55″N 83°55′36″W / 35.96528°N 83.92667°W |
| Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
| Built | 1875 |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| NRHP Reference # | 82003980 |
| Added to NRHP | March 25, 1982 |
The Knoxville Iron Company was an iron production and coal mining company that operated primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, and its vicinity, in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The company was Knoxville's first major post-Civil War manufacturing firm, and played a key role in bringing heavy industry and railroad facilities to the city. The company was also the first to conduct major coal mining operations in the lucrative coalfields of western Anderson County, and helped establish one of Knoxville's first residential neighborhoods, Mechanicsville, in the late 1860s.
During the 1890s and early 1900s, the Knoxville Iron Company was involved in two key events in the history of Tennessee's labor movement. The first came in 1891, when the company's Anderson County coal mines were among the targets of striking miners during the Coal Creek War. The second came several years later, when the company challenged a state law requiring companies to pay employees in cash, leading to the Supreme Court ruling, Knoxville Iron Company v. Harbison (1901), which upheld the rights of states to ban scrip and other forms of non-cash payments.
The Knoxville Iron Company continued operating in some capacity or another until 1987. The company's mill is still used by Gerdau Ameristeel to recycle and manufacture steel rebar.
During the Civil War, Confederate forces moved a small iron foundry from Loudon to Knoxville, but were unable to produce any iron, due in part to their lack of understanding of iron working processes. When Union forces occupied Knoxville in late 1863, Hiram Chamberlain (1835–1916), a Union officer from Ohio, and S.T. Atkins, a local manufacturer, managed to get the foundry in working order. Chamberlain remained in Knoxville after the war, and he and Atkins continued operating the foundry.
Noting the largely untouched ore deposits in the hills around Knoxville, Chamberlain decided to develop a large-scale iron works in the city. He recruited Welsh-born ironmasters Joseph, David, and William Richards, who in turn brought in other Welsh immigrants skilled in iron production. Chamberlain managed to secure $150,000 in initial capital, much of it supplied by wealthy Anderson County farmer J. S. Ross. The Knoxville Iron Company was formally organized on February 1, 1868.
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