Charcoal Pits

Hours spent inspecting county-wide LiDAR data has produced a detailed map of Columbia County charcoal pits. Ground-truthing at a few of these sites suggests that 90-95% of these pits truly are former charcoal mounds. The remainder may be small circular wetlands, natural mounds and other structures. As the data shows, Columbia County charcoal pits are found primarily on the hilly eastern frontier. Charcoal 'Pits' weren't a true pit, but rather were cordwood mounds. As a base for their mounds, colliers created flat, circular areas roughly 35' across, and although the mounds themselves were burnt long ago and the resulting charcoal carried off, the circular flats remain. These are not always conspicuous as you walk through a forest. Recent LiDAR data (“Light Detection And Ranging”, a form of topographic aerial mapping) provides a crucial overview of the landscape’s microtopography allowing us to remotely map the location of pits across Columbia County. In Columbia County, charcoaling has primarily been associated with the charcoal-iron industries, first at Ancram, then at Copake and Chatham during the 19th century. However, charcoal was also in demand by blacksmiths, tin smiths, glass blowers and others needing a hot, clean fire. In addition, it was used by locomotives entering cities because its burning produced relatively little smoke. In-forest charcoal making was part of the colonial landscape and extended into the 20th century. The Ancram iron furnace, founded ca. 1749, burned charcoal; and smaller scale operations likely existed before that. The traditional round charcoal mound was in use in England (where it was called a “clamp”) at least as early as the Middle Ages. https://www.hvfarmscape.org/charcoal