Metal Ford

Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness

"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting an exhibit called METAL FORD at the Buffalo River in Tennessee.

"METAL FORD is a point where travelers of the old road waded across the Buffalo River when the water was low. One method of road construction in that era was known as 'metalling', which meant the road was built by placing stones on the surface to help it stand the wear in bad weather. As you can imagine, these road surfaces were hard and rough to travel. The stone bottom of the ford across the Buffalo reminded travelers of 'metaled' roads and so it came to be known as METAL FORD.

"In 1820 this ford was the site of Steele's Ironworks where nearby ore was smelted in a coal burning blast furnace. Air was pumped into the fiery coal to make it burn hotter, and this air-blasting machinery was operated by water taken from the Buffalo River by a channel, known as a millrace. The iron making operations lasted at Metal Ford for more than a hundred years until after World War I when the great depression brought operations there to a close.

"Join us next time when we will hear the story of Meriwether Lewis. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."

For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com