Hopewell Furnace

I arranged a day trip to Hopewell Furnace- My husband likes history, my daughter likes Iron working, I like to learn about how we will have to start surviving without an abundance of petrochemicals.

Hopewell furnace is an example of a pig iron blast furnace powered by charcoal made from huge quantities of trees. The waterwheel drives pistons that are connected to wooden tanks in which air is compressed and forced through a pipe to the furnace. The added oxegen makes fire hotter and melts the rocks that contain iron ore. The furnace produced pots for cooking, wood stoves for heat, hammers and anvils for iron working.

To drive the furnace (without petroleum), hundreds of people needed to be fed and housed. There was an extensive farm, bakery, blacksmith shop, housing. The colliers, who created the charcoal (energy), lived in the forests in grass covered huts, and were the most numerous of the workers. And the lowest paid.