Traveling in Time: Connecting the public with local history through hospitality, heritage tourism in Catoctin Furnace

Summary

Located in the picturesque foothills of the Catoctin Mountains, the village of Catoctin Furnace is a burgeoning heritage tourism destination. Recently, work began to renovate the Forgeman’s House, a stone "workers’ cabin" constructed ca. 1817. The primary goal of the project, sponsored by the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, is to restore the house to its original layout and appearance.

The cabin will serve as a short-term/vacation rental, available for visitors to reserve nightly. Establishing unique accommodations for visitors will enhance the attractiveness of Catoctin Furnace as a tourism destination, and the opportunity to stay in an authentic 19th century cabin enables the public to engage with history on a level far more intimate than traditional museum exhibits. This project serves as a case study for transforming historic structures into functional spaces, exploring the challenge of maintaining historic integrity of a site while meeting the needs of modern visitors.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016   •
• Heritage From the Ground Up: Using Technology to Study Enslaved and Free Workers in an Iron-making Community

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Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 647