Evenings Upstairs: The Iron Industry at the Land Between the Lakes

The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is part of the Cumberland Valley Iron Industry that spans Kentucky and Tennessee. LBL has the remains of 6 furnaces within the borders of the Forest, the two most easily accessible of which each have a significant presence. 

In the last 50 years, there were various efforts to preserve and interpret these sites along with encouraging research through partnerships with a local university and Passport In Time (PIT).

This event will discuss the past, present, and future of the interpretation and research of LBL’s iron industry heritage and how it integrates with recreation.

Carl Feagans holds a master’s degree in anthropology with a focus on archaeology from the University of Texas at Arlington. As an archaeologist, he’s worked both in the Pecos Canyonlands of South Texas and Western Kentucky and Tennessee. Currently he works for the United States Forest Service and is the Assistant Heritage Program Manager at the Land Between the Lakes. As an archaeologist, his current interests lie in 19^th century Iron Industry sites of the Cumberland Valley as well as Clandestine Distilleries as they appear in the archaeological record of the Land Between the Lakes.