Marble Furnace, Ohio
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Bratton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 45660. It stands on Wolf Creek. The Survey maps it on the Peebles quadrangle.
Then and now
1916 to 1991The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
13 sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1916 USGS Peebles quadrangle1:62500
- 1918 USGS Peebles quadrangle1:62500
- 1918 USGS Peebles quadrangle1:62500
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Peebles quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Peebles quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Peebles quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Peebles quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Maysville quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Maysville quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
1,590 words on this townshipA History of Adams County, Ohio, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Including Character Sketches of the Prominent Persons Identified with the First Century of the Country's Growth .., published 1900 names this settlement in its chapter on Bratton Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
MARBI.E Furnace - There was built up about the old Marble Furnace a little settlement of mechanics, tradesmen, and furnace men, which became known as the village of Marble Furnace, and was a flourishing place in early days ; but after the abandonment of the furnace in 1834, the village rapidly declined, anl now nothing remains but a few buildings and a mill. Marble Furnace postoffice was established here in 1822. It is now discontinued.
Passage source: A History of Adams County, Ohio, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Including Character Sketches of the Prominent Persons Identified with the First Century of the Country's Growth .., published 1900.
Just above old Marble Furnace was once the site of an Indian village, and here after the whites had settled in this vicinity and along Ohio Brush Creek, Indian families would come and camp to hunt and fish. While Thomas Davis, who resided on Brush Creek just above the Fristoe bridge, was away from home, an Indian squaw stole John and Katy Davis, two of his small children, and carried them to the camp on East Fork. The mother of the children gave the alarm, the squaw was followed to the camp, and the children were rescued.
Passage source: A History of Adams County, Ohio, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Including Character Sketches of the Prominent Persons Identified with the First Century of the Country's Growth .., published 1900.
In the cliff on the Sommer's farm near Marble Furnace in 1801, Jacob Wise discovered two cub bears in a den in the rocks. Fearing an attack from the mother, Wise got old Peter Platter to help secure the cubs. When Wise went into the den after the cubs, and while securing them, the old she-bear rushed past Platter and started in after Wise, piatter seized her by the hinder parts and held her until Wise crawled out at an opening in the side of the den. He and Platter then attacked the old bear and killed her, securing the cubs for pets. These soon grew so large and became so unruly that they had to be killed.
Passage source: A History of Adams County, Ohio, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Including Character Sketches of the Prominent Persons Identified with the First Century of the Country's Growth .., published 1900.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Fires near this place
36 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 36 fires within 5 miles of Marble Furnace between 2003 and 2020, burning about 146 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 17 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 15275 |
| 23 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 27 August 2007 | Natural | 3.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 26 August 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 8725 |
| 18 July 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 15796 |
| 17 July 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 June 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 26 May 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 1,221 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,221 specimens collected within 10 miles of Marble Furnace between 1866 and 1975: 536 Fungi, 356 Animalia, 295 Plantae, 34 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. Braun, A. J. Sharp and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Puccinia lateripes Berk. & Ravenel | 1879 | A. B. Seymour | Adams County |
![]() | Apiosporina collinsii (Schwein.) Höhn. | 1900 | W.A. Kellerman | Mineral Springs |
![]() | Anchylopera brauni Heinrich, 1931 | 1927 | [Not Stated] | Beaver Pond |
![]() | Asplenium ruta-muraria L. | 1866 | C. B. Dyer | |
![]() | Pleopeltis michauxiana (Weath.) Hickey & Sprunt | 1866 | C. B. Dyer | |
![]() | Stigmella platani Fuckel | 1892 | Kellerman W. A. | Mineral Springs |
![]() | Phyllachora graminis (Pers.) Fuckel | 1900 | Kern W. A. | Mineral Springs |
![]() | Puccinia smilacis Schwein. | 1900 | Kellerman W. A. | Adams Co. |
![]() | Baeomyces byssoides (L.) P.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Scherb. | 1925 | Muegel, Harry R. | Mineral Springs, Oak Ridge |
![]() | Cladonia amaurocraea (Flörke) Schaer. | 1925 | Braun, E. Lucy | Mineral Springs, Oak Ridge |
![]() | Cladonia cristatella Tuck. | 1925 | Braun, E. Lucy | Mineral Springs, Oak Ridge |
| Cladonia fimbriata (L.) Fr. | 1925 | Braun, E. Lucy | Mineral Springs, Oak Ridge |
All 1,221 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Marble Furnace: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plum Run Stone Div Meigs Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Plum Run Stone Division Quarry | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
1 since 2024Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Marble Furnace in 1 storm report between 2024 and 2024: 1 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Marble Furnace | $1,000 | A tree was downed along Stoney Road. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peebles | 2.1 miles | 13 | |
| Louisville | 2.3 miles | 13 | |
| Locust Grove | 2.8 miles | 13 | |
| Lawshe | 3.3 miles | 13 | |
| Bacon Flat | 3.6 miles | 14 | |
| Louden | 3.8 miles | 16 | |
| Jacksonville | 4.7 miles | 13 | |
| Steam Furnace | 4.9 miles | 13 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Marble Furnace | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q22133947 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1065722. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.























