On Saturday, September 25, 1999, ASM International recognized the town of Heroult, California, as an historical landmark. It was at this site in 1907 that the first electric arc furnace in the western hemisphere was built and used for the direct reduction of the region’s naturally occurring iron oxide deposits into iron metal, the raw material used by foundries and steelmakers. The site was named Heroult, in honor of the furnace inventor Paul L. T. Heroult of France.
The furnace was purchased by a group of visionary Northern California entrepreneurs from the Noble Electric Company. They recognized the opportunities offered by the Shasta County natural resources of magnetite ( iron ore), limestone, charcoal and hydroelectric power. Heroult himself visited the area and assisted in the technical installation of the furnace.
It was submerged by the waters behind Shasta Dam in 1945 which explains why I had a slight problem finding it.
[url]http://www.ggc-asmi.ucdavis.edu/Other/Heroult.htm[/url]