{"id":2968,"date":"2026-08-13T18:43:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/?page_id=2968"},"modified":"2026-08-13T18:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:55:35","slug":"event-111626-charcoal-in-the-19th-century","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/event-111626-charcoal-in-the-19th-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Event 111626: Charcoal in the 19th Century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/river_template_photo.jpg\" alt=\"river_template_photo\" height=\"1000\" width=\"1000\" title=\"river_template_photo\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<h1>\n\t\t\tCharcoal in the 19th Century\t<\/h1>\n<section id=\"textboxungxve8\" data-object=\"PageLinesTextBox\" data-sid=\"textbox\" data-clone=\"ungxve8\">\n<h2>Monday, November 16, 2026<\/h2>\n<h3>6:30 p.m. \u2022 Simsbury Public Library<\/h3>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"textboxuubug4x\" data-object=\"PageLinesTextBox\" data-sid=\"textbox\" data-clone=\"uubug4x\">\n<p>Join us for a fascinating look at the history of charcoal production and mining in Simsbury and the surrounding region and the important role these industries played in Connecticut&#8217;s development.<\/p>\n<p>From the mid-1700s through the early 20th century, charcoal was in great demand throughout northwestern Connecticut. Made from the region&#8217;s abundant forests, charcoal provided fuel for blacksmithing, iron making and other industries, including brass and gunpowder production.<\/p>\n<p>Evidence of this history can still be found in the landscape today. Numerous charcoal hearth sites are located along Simsbury&#8217;s western ridgeline and in the surrounding area, including on Simsbury Land Trust&#8217;s Westledge properties and at McLean Game Refuge. These sites offer a glimpse into the people who worked these woodlands and the industries that once depended upon them.<\/p>\n<p>The program will also explore the region&#8217;s mining history and its connection to Connecticut&#8217;s iron industry.<\/p>\n<p>Speaker Mike Weber is a 1982 geosciences graduate of Penn State who draws upon a 36-year career with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Geological Survey. His book,\u00a0<em>Always More Production,<\/em> chronicles the region&#8217;s mining history through photographs, historical documents and records from the Cornwall Ore Bank Co. and Bethlehem Steel Corp. archives. Now retired from federal service, Weber serves as a guide and researcher at Cornwall Furnace, where he shares the history of Connecticut&#8217;s iron and mining industries with visitors.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charcoal in the 19th Century Monday, November 16, 2026 6:30 p.m. \u2022 Simsbury Public Library Join us for a fascinating look at the history of charcoal production and mining in Simsbury and the surrounding region and the important role these industries played in Connecticut&#8217;s development. From the mid-1700s through the early 20th century, charcoal was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2968","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2968"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2974,"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2968\/revisions\/2974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simsburylandtrust.org\/slt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}