Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Map of the US state of Pennsylvania showing the location of French Creek State Park Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (the United States) Show map of PennsylvaniaShow map of the United StatesShow all
Location	Union Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA
Nearest city	Reading, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°11′55″N 75°46′32″W / 40.19861°N 75.77556°W / 40.19861; -75.77556Coordinates: 40°11′55″N 75°46′32″W / 40.19861°N 75.77556°W / 40.19861; -75.77556
Area	848 acres (343 ha)
Established	August 3, 1938
Visitors	49,980 (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in southeastern Berks County, near Elverson, Pennsylvania, is an example of an American 19th century rural "iron plantation," whose operations were based around a charcoal-fired cold-blast iron blast furnace. The significant restored structures include the furnace group (blast furnace, water wheel, blast machinery, cast house and charcoal house), as well as the ironmaster's house, a company store, the blacksmith's shop, a barn and several worker's houses.

Hopewell Furnace was founded about 1771 by ironmaster Mark Bird, son of William Bird, who had been one of Pennsylvania's most prominent ironmasters. The site's most prosperous time was during the 1820-1840 period with a brief return to significant production during the American Civil War. In the mid-19th century, changes in iron making, including a shift from charcoal-fueled furnaces to anthracite-fueled steel mills, rendered smaller furnaces like Hopewell obsolete. The site discontinued operations in 1883.

In 1938, the property was designated Hopewell Village National Historic Site under the authority of the Historic Sites Act, thereby becoming one of the earliest cultural units of the National Park System.

Today, Hopewell Furnace consists of 14 restored structures, 52 features on the , and a total of 848 mostly wooded acres. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site is located in the Hopewell Big Woods and bordered by French Creek State Park on three sides and State Game Lands 43 on the south side, which preserves the lands the furnace utilized for its natural resources.

Gallery[]

See also[]

• Cast iron
• Iron
• Ironworks
• Sand casting
• Birdsboro Steel Foundry and Machine Co
• Charcoal making
• Birdsboro, Pennsylvania
• Samuel Van Leer

References[]

• Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site: Administrative History (National Park Service)

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.

• Official website
• History of Hopewell Furnace
• African-Americans at Hopewell Furnace
• Hopewell Village National Historic Site
• Hopewell Furnace: A Pennsylvania Iron-making Plantation, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-5157-A, "Hopewell Village, Furnace & Bridge House", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page
• Sand Molding at Hopewell Furnace - U.S. National Park Service (YouTube video)
• Iron Casting at Hopewell Furnace - U.S. National Park Service (YouTube video)
• Charcoal Making at Hopewell Furnace - U.S. National Park Service (YouTube video)