The blast furnace at Hopewell Furnace was operational from
1771 to 1883. The Hopewell Furnace community was made up of
ironworkers and a large network of support people.
Miners dug iron ore from open-pit mines and cut limestone
from local quarries. Teamsters carried the iron ore and
limestone to the furnace with their horses and wagons.
Woodcutters cut and split the native hard wood through the
winter. Colliers used the split wood to make charcoal in the
spring, summer and fall.
Charcoal pits measured 30 to 40 feet in diameter with about
25 to 50 cords of wood for each pit. (A cord of wood is a stack
of four-foot logs measuring eight feet long by four feet high.)
The mound of wood was covered with leaves and dirt, then set to
smolder at the center. Colliers carefully tended the smoldering
charcoal pits 24 hours a day for up to 14 days, living in
primitive huts near their pits during the coaling process. The
optimum temperature for the charcoal pit was 700-800 degrees
Fahrenheit, but the wood could reach up to 2000 degrees
Fahrenheit in some places.
The two-week smoldering released trapped moisture and
nutrients and “coaled” the wood. With all of the raw materials
in place, the founder, or furnace supervisor would direct the
“charging of the blast.” Carts and wheelbarrows full of iron
ore, limestone and charcoal were dumped into the top of the
furnace. A water wheel was used to operate a pair of blowing
tubs, that worked like giant bellows to raise the temperature of
the furnace to 2600-3000 degrees Fahrenheit!
Finished products from Hopewell included pots, skillets, flat
irons, wheels, anvils, hammers, grates and the famous Hopewell
stove.
|
B.C. |
3000 |
Iron first produced in Asia Minor (Turkey) |
| 2000 |
Iron produced in Nubia (East Africa) |
| 1800 |
First iron weapons made by the Hittites
(Turkey) |
| 1050 |
Iron produced in Greece |
| 790 |
Iron produced by Nok Culture (Nigeria) |
| 512 |
Iron produced in China |
| 400 |
Iron produced by Celts of Southern Britain |
|
A.D. |
300 |
Iron produced by Romans |
| 1000 |
First iron produced and forged in North
America by Vikings in Greenland and northern
Newfoundland (Canada) |
| 1543 |
Survivors of Spanish expedition led by
Hernando DeSoto produce first iron forged in
future United States (Arkansas) |
| 1621 |
First blast furnace in British colonies
built at Falling Creek, Virginia - destroyed by
Native Americans before going into production |
| 1644 |
First successful iron works in British
colonies established at Braintree, Massachusetts |
| 1710 |
Coke is invented in England - used as fuel
in iron furnaces |
| 1716 |
Thomas Rutter builds bloomery forge near
what is now Pottstown, Pennsylvania |
| 1720 |
Thomas Rutter builds Colebrookdale, the
first blast furnace in the American colonies,
near Pottstown, Pennsylvania |
| 1732 |
Samuel Nutt's bloomery grows into famous
Coventry Iron Works (Coventryville,
Pennsylvania) the first steel furnace in
Pennsylvania |
| 1740 |
Sands Forge on Hay Creek in Berks county
started by William Bird, father of Mark Bird,
first owner of Hopewell Furnace |
| 1742 |
Benjamin Franklin invents the Pennsylvania
Fireplace |
| 1744 |
Hopewell Forge built by William Bird |
| 1750 |
Iron Act, limiting the ability of colonial
iron industry to produce finished products,
passed by British Parliament |
| 1761 |
William Bird dies leaving estate to son Mark |
| 1762 |
At Carron Ironworks in Scotland the first
cast iron is converted into malleable iron |
| 1771 |
Hopewell Furnace built by Mark Bird, using
slaves and free laborers |
| 1772 |
Oldest known product produced by Hopewell
Furnace, a six-plate stove |
| 1775 |
Beginning of the American Revolution |
| 1776 |
Congress advances Mark Bird $2,000 to cast
cannon |
| 1777 |
The Board of War discharges Hopewell Furnace
workmen from militia, stating their work at an
iron furnace was more important than their
service in the militia |
| 1778 |
Mark Bird ships a thousand barrels of flour
down the Schuylkill River to Washington’s troops
at Valley Forge |
| 1780 |
Gradual Emancipation Act passed in
Pennsylvania (most slaves in Pennsylvania worked
in iron industry) |
| 1781 |
General Cornwallis surrenders to General
Washington at Yorktown, ending American
Revolution |
| 1786 |
Because of debt from war and poor economy,
Mark Bird puts Hopewell Furnace up for sale; no
buyer found |
| 1788 |
Hopewell Furnace property auctioned off and
Mark Bird flees to North Carolina to escape
remaining creditors |
| 1800 |
Daniel Buckley and his brothers-in-law
Thomas and Mathew Brooke purchase Hopewell
Furnace for 10,000 pounds sterling; 5,000 acres,
two mines, and the furnace are included |
| 1807 |
Jefferson enacts U.S. Embargo Act, limiting
trade with Britain and France |
| 1808 |
Buckley-Brooke partnership closes Hopewell
Furnace because of trade embargo and legal
problems with William Penn's heirs over land
grants |
| 1815 |
Congress enacts protective tariffs |
| 1815 |
Opening of the Schuylkill and Union Canals |
| 1816 |
Mark Bird dies in North Carolina |
| 1816 |
Hopewell Furnace goes back in blast, after
being shut down for eight years |
| 1826 |
Hopewell Furnace produces door frames and
peepholes for Eastern State Penitentiary in
Philadelphia |
| 1828 |
Hot blast iron smelting developed in
Scotland (preheated air was blown into furnace)
producing more iron with less fuel |
| 1830
1838 |
The most prosperous period at Hopewell
Furnace occurs under the guidance of ironmaster
Clement Brooke, son of Mathew Brooke; in 1836-37
the furnace is operated continuously for 445
days and produces 1,160 tons of castings,
earning over $40,000 gross for the owners of the
furnace; furnace workers earn from $200 to $300
a year |
| 1837 |
Bank panic; depressed economy causes major
setback to iron industry |
| 1838 |
Pennsylvania legislature authorizes
corporations to make iron using coal as fuel,
contributing to decline at Hopewell Furnace |
| 1830s
1850s |
Hopewell Furnace is an occasional stop for
runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad |
| 1839 |
Opening of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad; Hopewell Furnace makes its first
shipment of stoves by rail |
| 1844 |
Stove casting ends at Hopewell; only pig
iron is produced from 1844 until 1883 |
| 1853 |
Anthracite furnace constructed and put into
blast at Hopewell Furnace - proves to be
unsuccessful and shut down in less than two
years |
| 1861-1865 |
The Civil War; the price of pig iron (the
only product made at Hopewell Furnace during
this time) rises from $30/ton to over $90/ton |
| 1861 |
Morrill Tariff Act places strict duties upon
imported iron and steel; helps Hopewell Furnace
continue to produce iron during and after the
Civil War |
| 1883 |
Hopewell Furnace shuts down after 112 years
of operation |
| 1935 |
Hopewell Furnace purchased by the U.S.
Government; Civilian Conservation Corps begins
restoration of furnace community |
| 1938 |
Hopewell Village established as National
Historic Site, becoming the first site in the
National Park Service to commemorate our
industrial history |
| 1985 |
Hopewell Village’s name changed to Hopewell
Furnace National Historic Site |
