Catawba Iron Furnace is representative of the importance of the iron industry in western Virginia during the nineteenth century. Its round construction plan is unusual in nineteenth-century Virginia. The activities of Catawba Furnace altered the local landscape through deforestation for charcoal production, and brought money and people into the area of Vi. The history of Catawba Furnace reflects the history of the Virginia iron industry as a whole in its construction in the 1830s, increased production during the Cid War, and decline after the war. Catawba produced high quality iron and gained national importance as a key producer of iron for the Confederacy during the Civil War. - NPS