A new article from The Mountain Press gives interesting new details about Iron Forge, the original forge for which the city of Pigeon Forge was named.
A team of archaeologists from the University of Tennessee set up under the Old Mill General Store in Pigeon Forge to excavate the ruins.
According to the article:
The dig team was looking for several different Iron Forge artifacts, including the furnace, hammer, water flume and water wheel. By 2 p.m., the team had made significant progress. … Some of the artifacts were lying in plain sight. A large, mossy log with wooden spokes, resting in a shallow pool of water surrounded by rocks, was readily identified as the beam the original water wheel turned on.
For more information about the excavation (and some neat photos of the dig), visit The Mountain Press website.