Noble Foundry
In 1847 the six Noble brothers of Rome, Georgia ordered a lathe to be delivered to their Rome foundry to be used to make steamboat engines, furnaces, locomotives, and ultimately, Confederate cannons. Cast in Pennsylvania, the immense lathe was transported by ship to Mobile, Alabama, and then up the river system towards Rome. During their journey up the Coosa River, a series of water falls west of the city of Rome forced the company to unpack and dismantle the lathe. It was then transported by cart to the location of the Noble brothers’ foundry, located at the corner of First and Broad Streets in downtown Rome.
During the 13 years leading up to the war, the Noble Brothers expanded their operations, clear-cutting many acres of land to provide fuel wood to feed the fires required by the giant steam powered lathe. Logging roads built to transport the wood to town can still be found throughout the mountains in the area.
With the onset of war in 1861, production at the foundry changed to production of war materials. Canons and related war materials were especially in demand, and became a specialty of the Noble foundry. A rifle factory was also built near the Land Company's bridge on Second Avenue, but it was destroyed by fire before any of the rifles were finished. In 1862, the Noble brothers also constructed a water-powered cold blast furnace in nearby Cedar Bluff, Alabama.
Cannon production at the Noble Foundry was halted in 1864 by the Confederate government, shortly before Sherman’s troops arrived in Rome. The Federal Army burned down the Noble Foundry, but they were unable to destroy the lathe due to its immense size. The lathe, which today is located at Civic Center Hill in Rome, Georgia, still bears the marks of Union sledgehammers on its ten foot face which resulted from the invading soldiers’ attempts to destroy it.
Of added interest, the Noble brothers were given special exemption from military service by Confederate President Jefferson Davis. President Davis said, "The 6 Noble brothers are exempt from the fighting as we have plenty of men to fight but few that can make cannons."
After the war, the giant lathe was returned to operation, and eventually converted to operate on electricity. It was used by the Brewer and Taylor Foundry and Machine Shop for years, and continued to be used until the 1960’s.