Ironmaking played a contributing role in Spang Mill's early growth, especially through the Civil War before the paper mill was founded. The village stood about mid course between a large iron furnace (Martha Furnace) at McKee's Gap to the north and an iron-ore quarry to the south at Bloomfield. Teamsters driving the ore wagons often traded at the gristmill and a general store. The district's oldest known building from this pre-paper mill era is the Johannes Lower House, a log farmhouse at 912 Bloomfield St., built ca. 1808–10. Although substantially enlarged and covered with siding, the south half of the structure still contains the original house. At the time, Bloomfield Street was a country road leading through Morrisons Cove toward McKee's Gap.