February 7, 1863, The Charleston Mercury
It is a well ascertained fact that South Carolina has within her bosom the purest Iron ores that can be found upon the globe. Commencing in Spartanburg, and running through the upper portions of Union and York Districts, there exist vast beds of the finest magnetic, hematite and limonite ores. In 1854 Professor SHEPARD examined the iron ore of this region, and declared the ion equal in quality to the best Swedish and Russian. In 1849 samples of this iron were sent to Washington and tested at the Navy Yard. In strength it was declared superior to any other iron ever tested there. In 1857 some specimens of South Carolina iron, sent to Europe from the Nesbitt Works, were made into steel at Sheffield, and pronounced equal to the celebrated iron from the Dannemora mines of Sweden.
So great a variety of rich iron ores exists nowhere else on this continent; yet, strange to say, the manufacture of iron has never prospered in our State. The great obstacle has been the scarcity of fuel and the lack of transportation to a market. There are now three Iron Companies in the State: the South Carolina Manufacturing Company, at Hurricane Shoals, on the Pacolet River; the Magnetic Iron Company (the old Nesbitt Works), at Cherokee Ford, Union District, Broad River; and the King’s Mountain Iron Company, in York District, two miles below the Cherokee Ford, on Broad River. These companies, we believe, are now in full blast, and are furnishing a large amount of the indispensable metal to the Government and to the planters in the upper portion of the State. The Magnetic Iron Company has been sending down to one of our large foundries a fine article of pig iron, to be cast into a mammoth gun, which will leave its mark upon the first Yankee iron-clad that may venture within its range.
We trust that the iron interest in this State will take a deep root during the present blockade, and become one of the most flourishing branches of home manufactures. We notice that a charter has been obtained from the Legislature for a railroad from Shelby, N.C., to the iron region of our State. This road, when built, connecting with the North Carolina Railroad, will enable the ironmasters to obtain an abundant supply of mineral coal, and will also place them within reach of the markets of the world. With these requisites and the necessary skill in manufacturing, we see no reason why South Carolina iron should not compete with the English and Swedish article.