{"nrhp_refnum":"79000839","name":"Grand Tower Mining, Manufacturing and Transportation Company Site","other_names":["Devil's Backbone Iron Furnaces"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Devil's Backbone Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Grand Tower","county":"Jackson County","state":"IL","lat":37.63603157600005,"lon":-89.50886306161006,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Historic - Non-Aboriginal"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An archaeological and industrial site in Devil's Backbone Park, Grand Tower, Jackson County, Illinois, containing the remains of coke ovens and building foundations from the Grand Tower Mining, Manufacturing and Transportation Company, which operated in the 1860s to 1890s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the ovens are the last remaining relics of a once very large iron industry that earned Grand Tower the nickname \"Pittsburg of the West\" in the 1860s and 1870s. The company's iron reportedly won awards, including first prize at an 1876 World's Fair. The site is described as the only tangible link to a company central to the history of this part of southern Illinois.","narrative":"Along the western face of the Devil's Backbone ridge in Grand Tower, Illinois, the remains of beehive-style coke ovens survive in what is now a public park. They were part of the Grand Tower Mining, Manufacturing and Transportation Company, which grew out of the Mount Carbon Coal Company and took its new name by act of the Illinois General Assembly in 1869. The ovens produced coke, used in smelting iron, and the coke was probably carried by rail to a blast furnace about a mile south. A 1978 survey found ten exposed ovens and evidence that perhaps 35 remain, along with foundations of three buildings and a smaller structure on the ridge top. The company faced strikes, a lawsuit, a fire, a financial panic and a flood, entered trusteeship in 1874, and abandoned the ovens in 1892. The site is considered significant as the last visible trace of an industry that gave Grand Tower the nickname \"Pittsburg of the West.\"","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1869)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is described as quite deteriorated and in ruins. The ovens were abandoned in 1892, and the site is now within a public park owned by the park district.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.477949-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/6/8930/28893006/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79000839.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000839/f238424ad4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000839/f238424ad4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Tower_Park_hillside.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Tower_Park_hillside.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893006","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tower_Mining,_Manufacturing_and_Transportation_Company_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16891860"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/jackson-county/grand-tower-mining-manufacturing-and-transportation-company-site-79000839/"}