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This photo shows Lafayette Houck, the last of the Hopewell colliers, in a 1936 demonstration of charcoal-making at Hopewell Furnace. Mr. Houck is walking on the burning pile to find soft spots, which had to be dug out and filled in to maintain even burning.

Credit: Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Jackson Kemper, photographer

This photo shows Lafayette Houck, the last of the Hopewell colliers, in a 1936 demonstration of charcoal-making at Hopewell Furnace. Mr. Houck is walking on the burning pile to find soft spots, which had to be dug out and filled in to maintain even burning. A collier carefully tended the smoldering wood 24 hours a day for 10 to 14 days until it had "come to foot" or was completely charred. The temperature of the interior of a charcoal pit was generally from 700-800 degrees Fahrenheit, with some parts reaching more than 2000 degrees. During the coaling, the master collier and his helpers lived in primitive huts near the pits.

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