Iron Industry

Pottsgrove Manor in Pottstown, PA

The mansion at Pottsgrove Manor exemplifies the restrained elegance of early Georgian architecture popular with wealthy English gentry during the colonial era. Built in 1752 for John Potts, ironmaster and founder of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the mansion was situated on a 1,000 acre iron plantation, which by 1762 included the old village of “Pottsgrove.” Only four acres of the original property remain today, but Pottsgrove Manor has lost none of its original charm and architectural beauty, reflecting the eminence that the Potts family attained before selling the property in 1783. The mansion has been restored to recreate the lifestyle and times of the Potts family, using John Potts’ personal ledger as a [...]

Batsto Village in Hammonton, NJ

Batsto Village is an historic site located in the South Central New Jersey Pine Barrens, and is nationally recognized for its historical significance and beauty. Two centuries of American history are available to visitors, with the Pine Barrens creating a natural scenic backdrop. The Batsto Iron Works were built along the Batsto River in 1766, as Batsto had the natural resources necessary for making iron. Bog ore was “mined” from the banks of nearby streams and rivers, wood from the forests became charcoal for fuel, and the river furnished power for manufacturing. Available to visitors are a sawmill, a gristmill, a general store, a wheelwright and blacksmith shop, and various barns which were first erected for storage of wagons, equipment, and to house [...]

Long Pond Ironworks in Hewitt, NJ

Located in Hewitt, Passaic County, New Jersey, Long Pond Ironworks State Park is known for its old stone walls, furnaces and other remnants of a once industrious ironworking community that sits next to the swiftly flowing Wanaque River. The remnants of the ironmaking structures date from the 18th and 19th centuries, and include furnaces, casting house ruins, charging areas, ice houses, water wheels and other [...]

Ringwood Manor in Passaic County, NJ

By the 1740s, Colonial prospectors in the Highlands Region of Northern New Jersey had begun to smelt the local iron ore and settled here to utilize its streams for hydro-power. Ringwood Manor was home to a number of well-known ironmasters from the colonial era to the late 19th century. During the American Revolution, Robert Erskine managed three ironmaking plantations from his headquarters at Ringwood, and the Colonial Manor House saw at least five visits from General Washington. New York’s Peter Cooper and his son-in-law, Abram S. Hewitt, purchased the properties in 1854 for their rich local iron deposits, but Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt set about making the Ringwood estate their summer home. Hewitt enlarged the manor during the 1860s and 70s, and the completed house contains 51 rooms built in a wide range of styles characterizing the Victorian [...]

Hopewell Furnace in Elverson, PA

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in southeastern Berks County, Pennsylvania, is an example of a 19th century rural “iron plantation”. Restored structures include a blast furnace, the ironmaster’s house, a blacksmith’s shop, a company store and several worker’s houses. Hopewell Furnace was founded in 1771, and the site’s most prosperous time was during the 1820-1840 period, although there was a brief boom in production during the Civil War. In the mid 19th century, changes in manufacturing technologies and a shift from charcoal to anthracite rendered furnaces like Hopewell [...]