A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Nestled among the trees of the Schuylkill River Valley in Berks County, Pennsylvania, the restored historic buildings of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site commemorate America's technological heritage. To many visitors of the National Parks, the idea of an industrial complex situated in a rural rather than an urban setting seems counter-intuitive, an oxymoron. But within this idyllic, pastoral landscape, an ironmaking operation ran intermittently for over a century, 1771-1883. Far from any city, an active, diverse, and isolated community of workers and structures grew around the glow and blast cycles of an iron furnace that produced its product for distant urban markets. While nearby farmers cultivated their soils and toiled in their fields, the ironmaster and his workers exploited the forest for fuel to make charcoal, funneled the available water supply down sloping hills for energy, and crafted massive amounts of industrial products and implements for America's growing industrial society. As one observer noted in 1959, The visitor today can hardly realize that the furnace--with its lazily-turning waterwheel disturbing the tranquility of this place where time has long since stopped-- was once the hub of great activity.
Nestled among the trees of the Schuylkill River Valley in Berks County, Pennsylvania, the restored historic buildings of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site commemorate America's technological heritage. To many visitors of the National Parks, the idea of an industrial complex situated in a rural rather than an urban setting seems counter-intuitive, an oxymoron. But within this idyllic, pastoral landscape, an ironmaking operation ran intermittently for over a century, 1771-1883. Far from any city, an active, diverse, and isolated community of workers and structures grew around the glow and blast cycles of an iron furnace that produced its product for distant urban markets. While nearby farmers cultivated their soils and toiled in their fields, the ironmaster and his workers exploited the forest for fuel to make charcoal, funneled the available water supply down sloping hills for energy, and crafted massive amounts of industrial products and implements for America's growing industrial society. As one observer noted in 1959, The visitor today can hardly realize that the furnace--with its lazily-turning waterwheel disturbing the tranquility of this place where time has long since stopped-- was once the hub of great activity.
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site - Administrative History
L. Glaser (author)
2005
369 pages
Report
No indication
English