Furnace Town Living Heritage Village

Near the Nassawango Iron Furnace, Furnace Town preserves the history of a 19th-century company town. When the furnace shut down, all residents were asked to leave - except one who refused.

The Nassawango Iron Furnace was built in 1830 by the Maryland Iron Company, the only furnace in Maryland to smelt bog ore from the surrounding swamps. At its peak in the 1840s, about 300 workers labored here at grueling jobs — miners, colliers, molders, and bargemen loading raw materials into the furnace stack where temperatures reached 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The furnace pioneered "hot blast" technology in America, adopted just years after its invention in Scotland.

Sampson Harmon was born a free African American in 1790 at Nassawango Hills. Described as a man "strong enough to wrestle bears and fast enough to chase down deer," he stood very tall, always wore a hat, and never wore shoes. Sampson worked as a jack-of-all-trades at the furnace, supporting his wife and children through the dangerous labor of the iron industry. When the Maryland Iron Company went bankrupt in 1850 and the town was abandoned, every resident departed — except Sampson.

Author Dennis William Hauck wrote in "Haunted Places: The National Directory": "He came to think of Furnace Town as his only home and refused to leave the settlement, even when everyone else had abandoned it." For nearly fifty years, Sampson lived alone in a small wooden house near the manor, tending a corn garden and bartering with nearby Snow Hill. His only companions were the stray cats he collected — particularly a grey cat named Stormy (some accounts say a black cat named Tom).

In 1896, at age 106, county officials finally convinced the elderly hermit to move to the Alms House in Snow Hill. He died there a year later at 107. His dying wish — to be buried at Furnace Town — was never granted. His body was interred in Snow Hill instead.

The apparition of a tall Black man has been seen walking through parts of the village, especially during restoration efforts in the 1960s when the Worcester County Historical Society began stabilizing the ruins. Witnesses report hearing Sampson calling for his cats, the sound echoing through the forest. Stray cats still inhabit Furnace Town today — a tradition deliberately continued in his honor. Some visitors claim to catch glimpses of his cat following him through the shadows.

Furnace Town sits within Pocomoke Forest, which locals call "the most haunted forest in Maryland" with a 200-year legacy of paranormal activity. Sampson is one of over a dozen spirits said to roam these 18,000 acres, alongside legends of the Goat Man, the Cellar House murders, drowned fishermen, and escaped slaves from the Underground Railroad era.

The Peninsula Ghost Hunters and Delmarva Spirit Hunters regularly investigate the site. Evidence collected includes orbs, EMF spikes, temperature fluctuations, REM-pod activity, and EVP recordings. Investigations end in the Old Nazareth Church (built 1874), home of the legendary "Heavy Bible" — said to grow heavier the closer you carry it to the door, impossible to remove from the building. In September 2021, vandals caused over $100,000 in damage to the site, including the historic Bible, though the culprit was never caught. The museum has since recovered with upgraded security.