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Home , Bellows, Cold blast, Cornwall Iron Furnace, Flux (metallurgy), Ironmaster, Open hearth furnace

CORNWALL FURNACE Administered by the Historical & Museum Commission National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Susquehanna Section

Cornwall Iron Furnace Cornwall, Pennsylvania June 8, 1985

rich deposits and limitless forests that It was Pennsylvania, however, that eventually IRON provided the for it into became the prime center of iron production in and forging the pig into bar iron, both products the colonies, a simple consequence of the hap- “As they gather silver, and , and IRON, shipped back to the mother country from the py combination within its borders of seemingly and , and , into the midst of the fur- earliest period of settlement. infinite deposits of the richest iron ores, endless nace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it...” timberlands, great deposits of needed Ezek. 22:20. As early as 1619 a group of English investors as a in the , and plentiful established a blast furnace at Falling Creek near The factors that gave rise to the Industrial water power to drive both the that pro- present-day Richmond, Virginia. But what vided the blast air to the furnaces and the ham- Revolution have been the subject of endless would have been the first iron making speculation by historians who have concluded mers and rolls that worked the pig iron into establishment in America failed when the wrought-iron plate and bar. Finally—and nearly variously that these were simple and complex; workmen were massacred and the furnace was the result of naturally unfolding events and as vital as the resources put in place by na- destroyed by Indians. The first successful ven- ture—Pennsylvania was blessed with a great deliberate design; and furthermore, that if there ture was in the Massachusetts Bay Colony at was a single root circumstance that made possi- pool of ironmasters and workmen, mostly Ger- Saugus, near Lynn, north of Boston. The Ham- man, skilled in furnace and operation. ble this most momentous event in the progress mersmith , as it was known, went in- of civilization it was the development of: to operation in 1647. It was an integrated Despite both competition from British furnaces sophisticated techniques; or the inven- works, its heart the blast furnace that produced tion and spread of the ; or the and , and a variety of restrictive measures pig iron and a line of cast-iron goods made by imposed by Britain on the colonial iron in- emergence of the factory system of manufactur- pouring the molten iron directly from the fur- dustry in an effort to maintain its own interests, ing; or any one of a number of others. While nace into moulds. There also was a forge, in Pennsylvania's iron production flourished and all of these occurrences indeed were important which a portion of the pig was reheated and contributors to the , they grew between the early years of the 18th worked under a tilt hammer to convert it into century and the Revolutionary War. Iron was were underlain by a single crucial one upon malleable wrought-iron blooms which in turn which all the others were totally dependent first produced in the colony about 1720 at the were rolled out and slit in the rolling mill to Colebrookdale Furnace in Berks County, and in the absence of which neither they nor form that eminently useful item of commerce, nearly any other element of our industrialized perhaps named for the celebrated nail rod. From that and other crafts- Furnace operated by the Darbys society could have evolved: the large-scale, ef- men produced an infinite variety of finished ficiently organized, wide-spread production of in Shropshire. By the time of Cornwall products, from nails and builders’ hardware to Furnace’s establishment 22 years later there the ferrous metals. Without iron, cheaply and plowshares and hoes to rifles and tools; the easily available, the machinery of the Industrial were nearly a dozen furnaces in Pennsylvania myriad iron objects so vital to life, both in the and twice as many forges. Revolution could not have existed. Without the colony and “at home.” into which a certain portion of the iron At the start of the Revolution the colonial was converted the tools not only to produce iron industry actually was larger than that of the machinery but to work the mines and fields the mother country, with 80 furnaces in nine of and to carry out literally every aspect of human the colonies. There were more in Pennsylvania endeavor could not have been—could not be— than any other colony—about twenty. America possible. Iron and steel, plentiful and cheap, produced about one-seventh of the world’s iron are the foundation upon which rests practically at the time, ranking third in production behind every aspect of life, from the necessities of Russia and . Great Britain ranked food, clothing, and shelter to everything fourth. It was this capacity that enabled the beyond... colonies to manufacture ordnance and ammunition in quantities sufficient to wage a IRON IN THE COLONIES successful war with .

Although American colonial life depended principally on wood for most of its mechanical needs, nearly every wooden structure, vehicle, mill, tool, boat, and domestic appliance re- quired some iron to join, band together, cut, or resist wear. For that reason the iron furnace made an early appearance in the American col- onies. An even more compelling reason for this This front plate for a five-plate stove is at- was exploitation by English companies of the tributed to Cornwall Iron Furnace. While many stove plates were cast here, the main product of the furnace was always pig iron.

Most iron furnaces were called on during the American Revolution to cast cannon, and Cornwall was no exception. Forty-two naval cannon were cast here, along with much CORNWALL IRON FURNACE as it appeared circa 1860. Left to ammunition. This cannon, once displayed on the lawn at right: Cast House, Top of Furnace, Bridge House, and Engine the ironmaster’s estate, has been returned to the Cast House House. In the background are visible the House and where it was made, probably in 1775. Mule Stables. Notice the railroad tracks terminating just outside the Cast House. THE CORNWALL The history of mine and furnace diverged in That Cornwall was spared the depredations 1883. Grubb operated the furnace only until of weather and salvage is nothing less than a FURNACE about 1745 when he leased it to a company. miracle of industrial archeology. That it has He retained oversight of the ore banks, survived as the only 18th/19th-century From its inception Cornwall occupied a however, until his death in 1754 when it American blast furnace with its original fabric special position among Pennsylvania’s iron passed to his sons Curtis and Peter. The entire essentially intact is the result of nothing less, furnaces. It owes its existance to the renowned site was purchased from various Grubb heirs apparently, than family pride—if not Cornwall Ore Banks a few miles south of between 1785 and 1798 by Robert Coleman. sentiment—bolstered by the means that made Lebanon, a deposit of extraordinarily rich Under the Coleman family’s stewardship disposal of the land unnecessary. When the ore that until development of the Cornwall flourished during the century furnace went out of blast in 1883, it remained deposits was one of the most following, going out of blast, finally, in in the Coleman family which continued to valuable iron-ore bodies in the U.S. It had February, 1883. operate other, more modern furnaces in the been discovered in 1734 by area. Clearly, the old site was kept and, most during a prospect. By 1737 he had purchased At that point, the saga of the Cornwall Furnace ceases to be one simply of a important, maintained, as a monument to some 450 acres of the iron-rich land and in earlier generations of Coleman ironmasters. In 1742 built a blast furnace, naming the site successful Pennsylvania blast furnace that had been brought up-to-date in 1856, prospered 1931 Margaret C. Buckingham, a great- Cornwall for the English county of mining fame granddaughter of Robert Coleman, deeded the where his father had been born. Both mine and during a heyday of some 25 years following, and then shut down in the face of competition furance and its immediate ancillary structures, furnace survive to the present day in testimony with their land, to the Commonwealth as a to the vital role played by the American iron from the newer, larger, furnaces of the trans- Allegheny region that were based on the vastly historic site, in the capable hands of which it industry during the 18th and 19th centuries in survives today. In the visitors’ center and the nation’s growth. The mine when in work more efficient of the hot-blast and fuel. The sequence was a common one. throughout the site the technology of was the largest open-pit metaliferous mine in ironmaking in general and the saga of the the eastern U.S. It was exploited until 1973 Even today the former iron-producing regions of Pennsylvania and many of the other central Cornwall mine and furnace in particular, are when the damage caused the previous year by clearly laid out. the flooding accompanying Hurricane Agnes Atlantic states are dotted with the remains of damaged the underground sections beyond many of these furnaces, in nearly all cases economic restoration and it was abandoned by nothing more surviving than the stone furnace THE FURNACE’S the Bethlehem Steel Company, which had stack. The blowing and other machinery early operated the mine since about 1883. The was salvaged for either reuse or, more PHYSICAL HISTORY decision to quit the workings at that time was frequently, for its value as scrap metal; the reinforced by the fact that the ore was about timber roofs and walls of the buildings in time succumbed to the weather; and in more cases Cornwall had two distinctly different lives. played out in any case. With the cessation of When constructed in the middle of the 18th mining operations, and accordingly, pumping, than not even the durable furnace itself was laid waste by local builders who took it as a century it seems from the scant surviving came the inevitable flooding, leaving the mine descriptions to have been entirely typical of a pleasant, rock-bound lake. source of ready-quarried-and-cut architectural stone. American iron furnaces of the period. It was a squat stone stack 20-feet square at the base and 11 at the top, with a height of 31 feet. The blast air was provided by a pair of wood-and- This photograph of the front of the furnace was leather bellows nearly 21 feet long driven by taken in 1898. Built in 1742. the furnace stack an overshot taking its energy from was rebuilt in 1856 and enlarged from 20 to 28 feet square at the base and from 11 to 21 feet square at the top. The hood over the arch is now missing, but the rake remains.

In the mid-19th century boilers were placed on top of the furnace stack to power the steam engine, which drove the blast equipment. The boilers are clearly seen in the brick structure atop the furnace. The furnace gases passed beneath them and were exhausted through the chimney. a small stream that traversed the site. The Steam for the engine was provided by a pair employed in the tool and allied industries, and furnace was open at the top, and the measured of plain cylindrical West Point boilers set in for those elements of railroad rolling stock batches of ore, charcoal fuel, and limestone the throat of the furnace, heated directly by the most subject to impact and stress reversal: car were charged in more or less continuously escaping furnace gases. wheels and axles, and locomotive driving- simply by being dumped into the opening by The result of this campaign of modernization wheel tires. Improved methods of steel wheelbarrow. When the furnacemaster deter- is the Cornwall Furnace we see today. making—particularly the widespread use of the mined that a sufficient quantity of molten iron Interestingly, the basic ironmaking process open-hearth furnace—resulted in the ready had been smelted from the boiling mass the remained the same. Neither coal nor availablity of equal to those produced blast was stopped and the simple clay dam at coke were introduced as the smelting fuel from charcoal iron and the eventual total the opening in the furnace bottom was partially although both by then had found limited use in demise of the old process. removed allowing the liquid to run off. some furnaces of the region, and the “cold The dam then was further lowered and the blast” was retained despite the fact that the Iron vessels cross the ocean; iron, pooled at the very bottom of the furnace, system of heating the b blast air by heat ex- ran out into the moulds prepared in the floor Iron engines give them motion; change with the furnace exhaust had been in Iron needles northward veering; of the casting house, to form the pigs and the use for nearly a quarter of a century at a pots, firebacks, or other, mainly domestic, number of American blast furnaces. It was a Iron tillers vessels steering; products being cast at the moment. The pigs process around which controversy still swirled, Iron pipes our gas delivers; were about three feet long and weighed however Although generally it was conceded Iron bridges span our rivers; something less than 100 pounds, so sized that that use of the did increase Iron pens are used for writing; a man could lift and handle them. During the production efficiency, opinion among iron- Iron ink our thoughts inditing; Revolutionary War cannon and shot were cast masters and users was strongly divided on the at Cornwall as at many other colonial furnaces. Iron stoves for cooking victuals; question of the quality of the iron so produced. Iron ovens, pots and kettles; The average weekly production was about 20 There was sufficient force of argument holding Iron horses draw our loads; tons of iron although in one record year 1457 that a higher quality of both pig and rails compose our roads; tons were run out, a weekly average of some iron resulted from the “cold-blast, charcoal 28 tons. process” that the adoption of the newer Iron anchors hold in sands; methods was far from immediate or universal. Iron bolts and rods and bands; In 1856-57, after more than a century of During the transition period from about 1860 Iron houses, iron walls; service, the furnace was almost totally rebuilt. to 1890 the principal uses for charcoal iron Iron cannon; iron balls; It is apparent that the only original fabric re- tained was the core of the furnace itself and were for the production of specialty steels Iron axes, knives and chains; the masonry of the waterwheel pit. The furnace Iron augers, saws and planes; buildings were rebuilt in stone and the furnace Iron globules in our blood; strengthened and enlarged to its present size, Iron particles in food; although the capacity was not increased. The Iron lightning-rods on spires; major functional change was replacement of Iron telegraphic wires; the bellows by a vertical blast engine con- Iron hammers, nails and screws sisting of two wooden blowing cylinders or Iron everything we use! “tubs.” This was driven by a 20-horsepower horizontal steam engine that superceded the waterwheel. The engine was built by the West An anonymous 19th-century poem intended to instill Point of Cold Spring-on-Hudson, New in children an appreciation of iron’s universality. York. The engine’s relatively high speed was reduced to the lower speed at which the blow- ing engine operated by a large timber gear- wheel on its crankshaft, set in the former wheel-pit, driven by a pinion and small reduction gears. The large gear wheel which ran the blowing tubs and provided the cold air blast measures 76 feet in circumference.

From the blowing tubs, the blast was directed through the pipes (called ,) into the base of the furnace at three open- ings. The junction box allowed the founder to control the flow of air into the furnace. The arch at the rear of the furnace is seen at the lower left.

OFFICE OF THE CORNWALL IRON COMPANY LIMITED stands at the entrance to the ironmaster’s estate, adjacent to the furnace site. This building also served as an office for the estate and was built pro- bably by 1875.

The steam engine which drove the blast equipment was made at the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring, New York. It was installed around 1856. A 20 horse power, single cylinder engine, it has a fly wheel 9 feet in diameter. Steam was generated by two boilers on top of the furnace stack, using otherwise wasted heat. During its active existence and under the management of its many masters, the Cornwall Iron Furnace was a leading producer of pig iron as well as other products of the foundry THE OLD CORNWALL FURNACE. floor. Now that its commercial usefulness has long since passed away and the quiescent - GENERAL PLAN - silence of old age is wrapped around its an- cient walls, few who now visit there can con- OF ceive it as it was in younger days, rampant and roaring with flame and noise, one out of many ·THE MACHINERY· that have played their part in our iron age. (Reprinted from “An Engineer’s Miscellany”)

KEY TO THE FLOOR PLAN OF THE CORNWALL IRON FURNACE AND FOUNDRY

A–The engine room. B–Cylinders of the blowing engine. C–The great gear wheel. D–Pinion and shaft. E–Regulator valve for the blast. F–Old water wheel pit. G–Boshes of the furnace. H–Damstone of the crucible. I–Slag dam. J–Pig iron moulds K–Entrance to the foundry floor. L–Old entrance to the foundry. M–-Charging platform. N–Foreman’s room. O–Entrance to the weighing room. P–Stairway to men’s sleeping quarters. Q–Stairway down to the foundry floor. R–Watchman’s room. S–Steps up tp the engine room. T– room, upper level. U–Copper room, lower level. V–Entrance to the blowing engine room. X–Exit from weighing room to stairs P. Y–Opening for the pitman, on early water wheel. Z–Position of the early bellows. 1 to 4–Furnace arches as originally designated. FOR FURTHER READING The ASME Susquehanna Section IMPORTANT DATES FOR Jay Kohler, Chairman CORNWALL IRON FURNACE Greville Bathe, AN ENGINEER’S MISCELLANY. David Kitlan, Chairman : Patterson & White Co., 1938. History & Heritage Committee Chapter VI, “The Old Cornwall Furnace” 1734- (pp. 61-77), is the most complete account of Pennsylvania Historical & Peter Grubb buys land containing iron ore Cornwall and contains the most detailed Museum Commission which became the great Cornwall Ore Banks. description of its physical plant, with photographs and measured drawings by the Dr. Larry E. Tise, Executive Director 1739- author (his plan is reproduced in this James R. Mitchell, Curator of Science, Construction of Cornwall Furnace begins Industry & Technology booklet). Long out of print but available in 1742- many libraries. John K. Robinson, Publications Richard Stratton, Historic Site Manager, Furnace put in blast. Arthur Cecil Bining, PENNSYLVANIA IRON Cornwall Iron Furnace 1785-98 MANUFACTURING IN THE EIGHTEENTH Cornwall Furnace and mine pass into the CENTURY. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania The ASME History & Heritage Committee hands of Robert Coleman. Historical & Museum Commission, 1973. Dr. R. Carson Dalzell, Chairman 1856-57- Curator Robert M. Vogel, Secretary Furnace rebuilt and enlarged; steam engine W. K. V. Gale, IRON & STEEL. The Dr. Robert B. Gaither and blowing tubs installed. Gorge Museum Trust, 1979. 32pp., il- Prof. Richard S. Hartenberg lustrated. A good general exposition on the 1883- Dr. J. Paul Hartman Furnace goes out of blast in February. historical development of the technology, Prof. Enan F. C. Somerscales principally in Great Britian. Available: IGMT, Carron Garvin-Donohue, Staff Liaison 1932- Ironbridge, Telford, Shropshire TF8 7AW, Furnace site is donated to the England. Cornwall Iron Furnace Associates Commonwealth by Margaret C. Buckingham. W. David Lewis, IRON & STEEL IN AMERICA. Richard Davidson, President 1966- Greenville: Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Cornwall Iron Furnace is designated a Foundation, 1976. 60pp., illustrated. The best Special thanks to: National Historic Landmark by the United brief survey of the industry in this country, David Kitlan States Department of the Interior. describing not only its growth but also the James R. Mitchell 1976- principal processes for making iron and steel. John K. Robinson Cornwall Iron Furnace is designated an ASM Available: The Hagley Museum & Library, Robert M. Vogel Historical Landmark by the American Society Box 3630, Greenville, Wilmington, DE for compiling and editing this brochure, Steiner for Metals. 19807. Studios, Annville, Pa. for their artwork and printing expertise, and E. Johnson for his work 1985- James R, Mitchell, CORNWALL’S ROLE IN THE on the ceremony program and invitations. Cornwall Iron Furnace is designated a HISTORY Of AMERICAN MANUFACTUR- National Historic Mechanical Engineering ING. Manuscript. Harrisburg: Penn- Landmark by the American Society of sylvania Historical & Museum Commission, Mechanical Engineers. 1985. NATIONAL HISTORIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LANDMARK Robert G. Peets, MINING HISTORY AT CORNWALL, PA. 1957; revised by H. O. WHEN ERECTED BY PETER GRUBB TO SMELT THE Olsen, 1970. Bethlehem Mines Corporation, RICH IRON ORE OF THE NEARBY CORNWALL ORE Cornwall, PA. BANKS, THIS STONE-BUILT BLAST FURNACE WAS TYPICAL FOR ITS TIME, PRODUCING ABOUT 20 TONS Making James M. Swank, HISTORY OF THE OF PIG IRON AND CAST-IRON PRODUCT PER WEEK Sure Our Past MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN ALL AGES, Has A Future AND PARTICULARLY IN THE UNITED A MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION IN 1856-57 PRODUC- STATES FROM COLONIAL TIMES TO ED IMPORTANT CHANGES. THE FURNACE ITSELF 1891. Philadelphia: The American Iron & WAS ENLARGED; THE BLAST-AIR BELLOWS WERE Steel Association, 1892 (2nd Edition). While REPLACED BY A OF PAIR OF WOODEN CYLINDER the references to Cornwall are sparce, this is "BLOWING TUBS"; THE WATER WHEEL THAT HAD regarded as still the best broad history of the POWERED THEM WAS REPLACED BY A industry in America. 20-HORSEPOWER STEAM ENGINE; AND A PAIR OF WASTE-HEAT BOILERS TO SUPPLY THE ENGINE WAS THE MAKING, SHAPING & TREATING OF INTO THE OPEN STACK OF THE FURNACE. STEEL. : Steel Co., 11th edition, 1985. This immensely in- THE FURNACE WAS IN BLAST UNTIL 1883 IN THIS formative and interesting work, published FORM, AND SO REMAINS THE ONLY ONE OF since 1920 by USS, is principally an in- AMERICA’S HUNDREDS OF 19TH-CENTURY CORNWALL dustry textbook on all aspects of steel- CHARCOAL-FUELED BLAST FURNACES TO SURVIVE making, from the mine to the finished FULLY INTACT. IRON FURNACE product. Available: The Assn. of Iron & ASSOCIATES, INC. Steel Engineers, 3 Gateway Center, THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL Pittsburgh, PA 15222. ENGINEERS–1985

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The ASME Susquehanna Section— Mechanical Engineering Landmarks to date: The History and Heritage Committee of the Over 80 National Historic Landmarks have ASME’s Susquehanna Section gratefully acknowledge the efforts of all who cooperated on been designated since the program began Kaplan Turbine– the designation of Cornwall Iron Furnace as a in 1973. 14 International Landmarks and York Haven Hydroelectric Station National Historic Mechanical Engineering 8 Regional Landmarks have also been recog- York Haven, Pennsylvania Landmark. nized by the Society. Each represents a pro- October 20,1980. gressive step in the evolution of mechanical Worthington Pumping Engine– The American Society of engineering, and each reflects its influence on York Water Company Mechanical Engineers society, whether it is of significance in its York, Pennsylvania immediate locale, in the nation, or throughout May 7, 1982. George Kotnick, President the world. For more information about this and Richard Hirsch, Vice-President Region III other programs sponsored by the ASME History Electric Locomotive GG1 4800— Michael R. C. Grandia, Chairman and Heritage Committee please contact the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania History & Heritage Committee, Region III ASME Public Information Dept. at 345 E. 47th Strasburg, Pennsylvania Paul F. Allmendinger, Executive Director St., New York, NY 10017. (212) 705-7740. April 23, 1983 H106