CATOCTIN FURNACE, Md. (PRWEB) April 17, 2018
Please Join Us for a Traditional Spring in the Village, Art at the Furnace
Featuring Juried Arts and Crafts, Period Music, Living History Programs, Craft and Artisan Demonstrations, Children’s Activities, Tours, Food Trucks, Historic/Traditional Foods, Local Wine and Craft Beer. We will have wonderful Spring and Mother’s Day Gifts and Decorations for Sale and a special visit from Harriet Tubman!
Saturday, May 5 from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, May 6, from noon to 5 pm
Collier’s Log House (ca. 1810), Stone Cottage (ca. 1820), Catoctin Iron Furnace
12607, 12610, & 12625 Catoctin Furnace Road (throughout the village of Catoctin Furnace)
Spring in the Village, Art at the Furnace is a partnership with the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., Cunningham Falls State Park, Catoctin Forest Alliance, Catoctin Mountain Park, Silver Oak Academy, Frederick County Public Libraries, Friends of Cunningham Falls and Gambrill State Parks, and generously sponsored by First Energy and The Maryland Humanities Council.
The Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc. is hosting their 7th annual Spring in the Village, Art at the Furnace event throughout the historic village of Catoctin Furnace. The ca. 1810 Collier’s Log house and the ca. 1820 Stone House, located at 12607 and 12610 Catoctin Furnace Road, respectively, will be open, as well as the restored casting shed. On Saturday, May 5, from 10 am to 5 pm and on Sunday, May 6, from noon to 5pm, the public is invited to visit the historic village houses.
The cornerstone of this year’s event will be a visit at 1pm on Saturday visit from a very special guest—Harriet Tubman! Re-enactor Millicent Sparks’ carefully researched living history performance of Tubman will bring to life the famed Underground Railroad conductor and engage children and adults in a profound and meaningful encounter (complete with an in-character question and answer session) with a true Maryland hero. Ms. Sparks’ performance will be followed by a presentation from Diane Miller, Program Manager for the United States National Park Service's Network to Freedom. Ms. Miller will give a presentation exploring Maryland's setting as a border state and its unique role in the Underground Railroad. Many nineteenth century African American leaders were freedom seekers from Maryland.
Throughout the weekend local artists and artisans will display and sell their work, the Frederick Town Fife and Drum Corps will perform on the furnace green, local musicians will participate in an open bluegrass jam, and the Landless Theater Company will perform musical numbers from “1776,” completing the ambiance of a village spring celebration more than two hundred years ago, when the Catoctin Furnace was in blast. Visitors to this free, family-focused event will enjoy traditional foods prepared by Silver Oak Academy’s Culinary Arts program students, delicious food truck offerings, hand scooped ice cream, local wines, craft beers, and fresh baked goods.
On both days, children will have an opportunity to play colonial games, make handkerchief dolls, and go back in time through creative make-believe playtime at the Collier’s Log House. Festival goers of all ages will enjoy watching demonstrations of basket weaving, chair caning, horn work, broom making, blacksmithing and more. Attendees will be able to tour historic homes, learn about our latest archeological findings, enjoy a visit with a mysterious owl or majestic hawk through the DNR’s Scales and Tales program, and attend other special programs throughout the weekend.
The Catoctin Furnace was built by four brothers in order to produce iron from the rich deposits of hematite found in the nearby mountains. The iron furnace at Catoctin played a pivotal role during the industrial revolution in the young United States. The furnace industry supported a thriving community, and company houses were established alongside the furnace stack. Throughout the nineteenth century, the furnace produced iron for household and industrial products. After more than one hundred years of operation, the Catoctin Furnace ceased production in 1903.
In 1973, the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., was formed by G. Eugene Anderson, Clement E. Gardiner, J. Franklin Mentzer, and Earl M. Shankle to “foster and promote the restoration of the Catoctin Furnace Historic District…and to maintain the same exclusively for educational and scientific purposes…to exhibit to coming generations our heritage of the past.” Today, the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., is undertaking groundbreaking research, including bioarchaeological research on human remains from the African American cemetery in Catoctin Furnace. In partnership with the Smithsonian Institution and the Reich Laboratory for Medical and Population Genetics at Harvard University, this project is analyzing ancient DNA and the human genome of several revolutionary-era African American workers at Catoctin Furnace. Such research, in conjunction with other technologies such as stable isotope analysis, could tell us where these workers were born, where they lived throughout their lives, and what constituted their diet. We believe that every life mattered, and every past matters now; by studying and disseminating the results of this research, we hope that people everywhere will get to meet some of these early workers and understand the critical roles they played in the development of our young nation, as well as appreciate the rich, varied trajectories of their lives.
Proceeds from the event will be utilized for the ongoing restoration of the historic village structures, a critical need. For more information, please call 443-629-8661 or visit http://www.catoctinfurnace.org.
Admission is free.