Mary Ann Township

Map of Mary Ann Township from the 1866 Atlas of Licking County.

Mary Ann Township, located in the northeast quadrant of Licking County, is bounded by Eden Township to the north, Perry Township to the east, Madison Township to the south, and Newton Township to the west. The township, like it neighbors in that corner of the county, is hill and cut by many small streams and has a rugged terrain. It has no villages or towns, but had several communities in the nineteenth century which have subsequently declined. Mary Ann possessed a geological feature that would heavily influence its early development-a vein of iron ore in the southeastern portion of the township. It would even influence the name of the township. The first European settlement in Mary Ann occurred in 1806 and a number of cabins sprang up to take advantage of the rich farm soil. Originally a part of Madison Township, and then briefly adjoined to Newton Township, MaryAnn became its own township in 1817.

The Furnace

The iron ore discovered in the area led to the development of one of the county's first manufacturing centers, the Mary Ann Furnace. Local settler David Moore began preparation for a foundry in 1815 by setting up a saw mill along the Rocky Fork of the Licking River, and followed that with a furnace facility. Two men, Stephen Cooper and Lilburn Wilson, oversaw the project. A grist mill followed the furnace and a small production center had emerged by 1817. The furnace, christened "Mary Ann" after David Moore's wife, would impart its name upon the newly formed township.

Mary Ann Furnace was a successful frontier manufacturing site, supplying local settlers with iron implements, including an ornate stove that became a signature Mary Ann item. Roads leading to and from the furnace led to the rise of a second, albeit short-lived, community in the Township, Wilkin's Run. The success of the smelting induced the development of a village to support and cater to those who worked at the Furnace, growing to a size of around five hundred inhabitants in 1830, roughly half the size of Newark at the time. The local ore vein had dwindled by the 1830s Ore continued to be brought in from other locales by canal and wagon and the furnace continued in operation until a fire destroyed the site around 1853. For many years after the fire that ended Mary Ann Furnace, a large pile of stones could be seen marking the defunct site.

The destruction of the furnace signaled the end of the township's early growth. By 1900 the population had fallen to just 827 In 1940, the total population of the township was 657. The township has seen modest population growth in the last few decades; the 2010 census noted 2,116 inhabitants in the township.

Mary Ann Township and its furnace were fictionalized by author Mary H. Catherwood in Rocky Fork, her novel which drew upon memories of her youth in Licking County.

For more information see also:

Moody, Minni Hite. "Mary Ann's Halcyon Days," The Advocate, January 10, 1969, 3.

Noyes, Edward. "Mary Ann Furnace, Industrial Community of Early Central Ohio," Bulletin of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. Vol. 9 (1951), 213-226

Smythe, Brandt. Early Recollections of Newark. Newark, OH: Thos. E. Hite Publications, 1940.

J.G.

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