What is this?

[bobbi-j]

A well or some sort of water collection system?

 

[duluthralphie]

Sugar mill

 

[Molpet]

something to do with making metal

 

[OhZark Biddies]

A well or some sort of water collection system?

Nope....

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Sugar mill

Nope...

 

[OhZark Biddies]

something to do with making metal

Yep... but the judges have ruled that we need a more complete answer

 

[SueT]

a forge?

 

[Molpet]

an ore smelter?

 

[OhZark Biddies]

a forge?

an ore smelter?

The judges have conferred and will accept these answers combined as correct... the judges are only 3 1/2 weeks old and like meal worms though...

This was the first iron works west of the Mississippi starting up in 1926... edit that should read 1826

It mostly produced iron billets that were hauled to St.Louis for making steel...

This is what it looked like in its hay day...

Here’s a scale model cutaway view...

In the scale model the fella in red is standing at the casting arch where the molten iron ran out into a trough and cooled into iron billets called “pigs” because of the way they were lined up on the trough

The shiny black waste slag looks like volcanic rock and was collected from the left notch, the iron ran out the right side

 

[SueT]

It's a good thing I didn't put my first guess-- pizza oven....