In the first years of 1800, soon after the town of Shepherdsville
was established, the firm of Quarry and Tyler (or Taylor) located their
plant here for the manufacture of iron and steel. This enterprise was located
a little over a half mile below the main town on the bank of Salt river.
The immense machinery was run by water power. A dam was constructed across
the river of hewn timbers fastened to the bed rock of the stream by iron
bolts, tamped in drilled holes in the solid rock bottom of the river, about
six feet high, and being higher up the river on the south side, which run
the water to the south shore, whence it was turned into the race walled
with stone and carried nearly a half mile, where it beat against the large
undershot wheel that moved the machinery.
This enterprise soon became almost as famous as the Bullitts Lick salt wells,
which were about three miles north of Shepherdsville. The pig iron used
here was nearly all procured near Belmont about six miles from here-and
was hauled on wagons to the iron works and manufactured into iron bars and
rods, and the various patterns demanded by the trade.
The furnaces were heated by charcoal, which by 1820 had exhausted the wood
on the north side of Salt River for four miles from the works. The coaling
enterprise was run in greater part by Sid Alexander, who usually employed
twenty or more hands the year round in cutting the wood, and numerous others
in burning and hauling the charred coal to the furnaces.
There was also a large flouring mill operated at the same point of the iron
works and supplied flour to the surrounding country for many miles.
In about 1810, or a little later the first steel rails manufactured in the
territory west of the Allegheny Mountains was made here at these iron works,
and the iron and nails required in blacksmithing for hundreds of miles around
was procured here. With this very large trace and the very large salt trading
interests at Bullitts Lick, together with other natural advantages, in that
early day Shepherdsville vied with the leading industrial centres in the
State.
At that day the dam across Salt River made it necessary to operate a ferry
during the greater part of the year. This ferry for many years was kept
by James CROAN, Sr.