It was June 2006 that park volunteers Jeff Staples and Amos Thomas discovered the old foundation site in Big Gem Park. It is believed that it used to be a house for the workers of the Big Gem Furnace. The two cleaned out a path up to the foundation area, and removed a lot of trash from around the foundation. Jeff found rocks in the park and lined both sides of the path that winds its way from the roadway up to the top where the foundation is located. Later Amos installed the split rail fence. The two cleaned up the area for the public to see, as it is the only visible evidence left of the furnace era. At the time they were cleaning up the path that leads to the foundation, the Tiger Lilly’s along the entrance to the path were blooming. So the two decided to call it Tiger Lilly Lane! They hoped that by highlighting a significant part of the parks past, it would encourage others to further develop the area to showcase Big Gem Furnace’s rich history in Shenandoah. Currently, this area of the park needs some much needed tender loving care. One can find this area by walking back the center roadway in the park and look for the sign on the right side of the roadway.
While walking back to the foundation site, one can just imagine how exciting times were when the Big Gem Furnace was in full operation- Shenandoah claimed the attention of other valley town by its signal lights, which were seen regularly each time a kettle of red hot cinders were poured down the cinder bank at Big Gem. This occurred every six hours, beginning at 10:00am through 4:00am. Naturally, the 10:00 pm pour was the town’s chief advertisement.
