SMELTER WAS BUILT IN 1887
About 1887, John A. Crews, of Chicago, promoted a 60-ton furnace to smelt the surface deposits of iron ore found near Orr Switch and Lassater on the L. A. & T. railroad.
The smelter operated intermittently from 1887-1905, under changing managerships, until the high cost of transporting coke for fuel for the furnace made profitable operation impossible.
Several governmental—federal as well as state—investigations and surveys were made of the ore pits in an effort to ascertain the possibility of profitable exploitation.
Had the navigability of the bayou remained unchanged, it is highly possible that Jefferson might have regained the prominence and prosperity it enjoyed during the days of the great river traffic.