The Iron and Steel Trail Continued from Page 19
over 200 years ago. On site also sits the blacksmith’s house, office store and the charcoal house. The trail stretches forward to Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. As if frozen in time, visitors will find a preserved blast furnace, ironmaster’s mansion and auxiliary structures. Hopewell is surrounded by French Creek State Park, which preserves the lands the furnace utilized for its natural resource extraction. Heading south the trail stops at Warwick County Park. The thick forest and rocky surfaces hold remnants of 18th to 19th century charcoal hearths. Adventurers can take the Charcoal Trail Way on the park’s southern ridgeline to uncover the ruins. Warwick’s wooded landscape provided the raw timber used to make charcoal for the region’s iron furnaces and forges. This point is a good time to stop and reflect on the many processes and supply chains that went into the production of iron and steel. Emerging from the forest, trail visitors will then switch gears to the top of the hill on King Street in Pottstown to find Potts Grove Manor. This early Georgian ironmasters’ home was built in 1762 for John Potts. Potts built a village around his iron enterprise, which included a forge for refining pig iron. At this stop, adventurers will step back into time to discover how a culture ignited around the early iron operations. The trail continues on to the Schuylkill River Heritage Center in Phoenixville. Outside the 140-year-old Foundry building, visitors can have an interpretative experience on the former site of the Phoenix Iron and Steel Company. The outdoor steel sculpture garden lends an artistic and modern spin on steel heritage. It contains a Phoenix Column, an important architectural innovation patented on this site in 1862 that went on to provide structural support for bridges all over the country. Take a moment to consider the importance of the river and its contributions to the steel operations.
Adventurers will then head south to Valley Forge Park which many may recognize as the winter encampment of the Continental Army. A lesser known portrayal can be found inside the stables next to the Washington’s Headquarters; visitors will find artifacts about the iron forges that gave name to this national park. The site was a full working ironworks containing a bloomery, chaffery, finer and slitting mill that converted irons, made bars as well as manufactured and finished metal products. The forge quickly became a source of military materials with the arrival of the Revolutionary War, inspiring the British to make a pit stop to torch the forges and buildings to the ground. Along the Struble Trail in Uwchlan Township, the iron and steel trail finishes off at a site that holds the remnants of stone walls that once encompassed the Dowlin Forge. Visitors will find a creek bordering the ruins, once used for powering the operation since 1801. Impure iron was sent from neighboring furnaces and then heated into bars of iron. Long ago, a settlement of houses with their own general store circled the site. However, all that is left is a subtle reminder of the iron heritage and adventure seekers on the steel trail.
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——Fall/Winter
2020 • Volume 7——