National Historic Site of Berks County, Pennsylvania
by Joseph J. Devanney
Published in the October 2000 Issue of Anvil Magazine
The origins of Hopewell Furnace are intertwined with the American Revolution. Most people are familiar with the British efforts before the war to impose taxes on tea coming into America and the resulting Boston Tea Party in 1775. Not so well known, however, are the other attempts by the English government to control American economic life. One of their major thrusts was directed at our iron industry. The British, in the years before the Revolution, passed laws prohibiting American colonists from making any iron products except in the form of rough, cast iron bars. The idea was that these would be shipped to England for refinement into finished products. American ironmasters ignored these regulations, however, and turned out huge amounts of wrought iron products that were commercially competitive. By the 1770s, colonial furnaces, which had great advantages in the form of water power and use of local natural resources, were well established.
It was Clement who operated the furnace during its most productive years. In part, his success was due to luck in timing. By 1816, the systems of transportation were being greatly improved. Congress had finally seen the advantages of protective tariffs. In Pennsylvania and other northern states, slavery was dying or dead. With these and other factors in his favor, Clement was able to turn Hopewell into a major supplier of iron products throughout the new United States. Castings, in particular, proved the key to profit for Clement and, more specifically, it was the popular Hopewell Stove that marked the success of the furnace. For several decades Hopewell Furnace was, in the jargon of the times, an "iron plantation," where entire families worked and lived full time. Blacksmiths, moulders, founders, colliers, clerks, teamsters and many others were all supervised by the ironmaster. The iron ingredients were extracted from the nearby soil. The fuel was made at the site by burning carefully structured piles of wood to produce charcoal. Water-powered machinery gave the force that was necessary to push air into the hearth and raise the temperature of the fires.
The life in Hopewell revolved around yearly cycles. On an annual basis, the furnace would be cleaned. Many of the laborers doubled as farmers during the spring and summer months. For those working around the furnace, the demands could be difficult. Tapping of the furnace was generally done every twelve hours when the furnace was in operation, in order to allow the liquid iron to run off. Every half hour, these laborers (known as "fillers") put around 500 pounds of iron ore into the furnace, along with about 40 pounds of limestone and the appropriate charcoal. Temperatures in the furnace could go up to 3,000 degrees F. The "Golden Years" of Hopewell Furnace were from around 1830 to 1837. In 1837, an economic panic hit the country and resulted in a severe decline in demand for Hopewell Stoves. From the 1840s onward, America was shifting to large-scale concentrations of steam-driven coke and anthracite furnaces. The age of the "iron plantation," where everyone lived and worked in common, was drawing to a close. Clement Brooke retired in 1848 and his successors found that despite a short reprieve during the years of the Civil War, they could not compete against the new integrated iron and Bessemer steel industries. In 1883, Hopewell Furnace closed its doors.
The mansion and the blacksmith shop are only two of the attractions available for visitors to Hopewell today. The old furnace stack is part of the cast house, where the moulders poured the liquid iron into the molds that resulted in creating the stoves and other items. A separate anthracite furnace stands as the mute testimony about one of the last efforts to "modernize" Hopewell in its final active years. Tenant houses, where the families of workers lived, can also be entered. These are small by our modern standards, but clearly were warm and comfortable to the people who used them. Examples of the old charcoal hearths stand close to the cooling shed and the charcoal house. The women did much of the woodcutting that was necessary for the preparation of the charcoal hearths. The company store at Hopewell Furnace is an experience in itself. Old ledgers provide information about employees and their purchasing needs. Several antique stoves are on display along with other diverse items. People made their purchases on credit against their wages. Prices, however, were fair and there was no attempt to cheat or exploit the workers.
At the Visitors Center, several videos are regularly presented, covering such topics as blacksmithing, casting and charcoal making. The details in these are extensive. In the blacksmithing video, for example, the making of a horseshoe is shown from start to finish. A visit to Hopewell Furnace should be a priority to anyone with an interest in American economic or social history. It is a testimony as to how, in an earlier age, the ideas of community and labor were intertwined. The Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site is located on Route 345 North, about ten miles from the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange at Morgantown. It is open daily including Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day. On some federal holidays it is closed. For additional information, the phone number is (610) 582 8773. Web site address: www.nps.gov/hofu. The mailing address is: 2 Mark Bird Lane, Elverson, PA. 19520.
CAPTIONS The water wheel was the central power source for the machinery at Hopewell. This present wheel is a recent restoration. The furnace was an area of constant activity. Workers lived in houses similar to this. Several old Hopewell Stoves, preserved in pristine condition, are on view in the Visitors Center. The anthracite furnace, built late in the history of Hopewell, still stands. Park Ranger Dick Lahey and farrier Darren Quaintance demonstrate the proper techniques for shoeing horses. (photo loaned by Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site) Return to Blacksmithing Articles Page Return to the October 2000 Table of Contents
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