300th Anniversary of the Colonial Iron Industry in Chester County
By Thomas M. Walsh
William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1682. He created the three original counties: Chester, Bucks, and Philadelphia. Moving inland from the Delaware River, settlers began clearing the rolling topography of the Piedmont. As early settlers moved from Philadelphia and Germantown to wilderness areas in the Schuylkill Valley near present-day Pottstown, iron ore deposits were discovered in the Triassic rock areas. It was here Pennsylvania’s iron industry began. In 1716, Thomas Rutter built a bloomery forge on the Manatawny Creek inPhiladelphia County (now Montgomery County). Last year was the 300th anniversary of Rutter’s operation, thus beginning the iron industry in Pennsylvania.
In 1717, Samuel Nutt became the second iron producer in Pennsylvania with his purchase of land along the French Creek on the Chester County side of the Schuylkill River. This marks the beginnings of Coventry Forge and thus enables us to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the iron industry in Chester County. Rutter and Nutt, plus those who followed in the colonial era, found mineralized zones or deposits of iron, primarily magnetite, at or near the land surface. The deposits could be worked as open pit mines. One of the earliest and most famous mines was located at St. Mary’s (now Warwick), In addition, the land was heavily forested and could be cleared of its hardwood trees. The trees were cut and then burned to make charcoal. Charcoal was used before coal in the colonial iron-making process. The last ingredient in the iron-making process, limestone, was used as a fluxing agent. It was found in various local deposits.
Criss-crossing the land were streams like French Creek and its tributaries flowing toward the ocean by way of the Schuylkill and/or Delaware Rivers. Streams could be dammed and their power harnessed to work the bellows and tilt hammers used in the iron-making process. Water wheels could also power the sawmills and gristmills that became part of the iron making community. The only thing missing in 1716-17 were people to do the work. It would become the task of the owners, their investors, and/or the ironmasters to bring workers and their families to the wilderness production centers.
During the colonial period, today’s northern Chester County and the surrounding counties of Lancaster, Berks, and Montgomery could be called “Iron Country.” At Samuel Nutt’s Coventry Forge at Coventryville, his early partners included William Branson and Mordecai Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln’s great-great- grandfather). Coventry would grow and Anna Nutt, after the death of her husband, would continue Coventry’s operation until her son- in-law Robert Grace and her daughter Rebecca assumed control.
It should be noted that Anna Nutt and daughter Rebecca Grace need to be recognized for their business acumen in the colonial iron industry of Chester County. Their work predates the leadership of Rebecca Lukens and they need to be elevated to that plane and not forgotten.
In 1726, Samuel Nutt and William Branson would build Kristeen Furnace (Rock Run on the western side of Coventryville). Coventry Steel Furnace was built by them circa 1732. They also attempted steel making around this time. Eventually, the Potts family (Pottstown, Pottsgrove) would control the various components of the Coventry Iron Works.
Around 1736, William Branson built Reading Furnace. The furnace was taken down in 1786 and a forge that operated until 1811 was built on its foundation. Somewhere around the same time Anna Nutt, Samuel Savage, and Samuel Nutt, Jr., established Warwick Furnace. It also would become part of the Potts family’s holdings. Chester County’s iron industry would continue to grow throughout the colonial period. A list of forges and furnaces follows:
Vincent Steel Works – c. 1737
Mt. Joy Forge – c. 1742 – located on the Philadelphia side of Valley
Creek (now Montgomery County)
Rebecca Furnace – 1760 – Cupola, W. Nantmeal Twp.
Vincent Furnace – c. 1762
Springton Forge – 1766 – W. Nantmeal Twp. (now Wallace Twp.)
Hopewell Furnace – 1771 – on the border of Berks and Chester Counties
Vincent Forge – c. 1772
Valley Forge – c. 1773 – on the Chester County side of Valley Creek
By 1885, all of these colonial iron and steel operations were no longer in business. In the post-colonial period two new companies sprung to life. In 1790, in present-day Phoenixville, the Phoenix Slitting Mill and Nail Works began operations. It evolved into the world-famous Phoenix Steel Company. Operations of this company in Phoenixville ceased in 1987.
In 1793, on a tributary of the Brandywine called Buck Run, Isaac Pennock founded the Rokeby Slitting Works (also known as Federal Slitting Mill). By 1810, he had moved upstream on the Brandywine to a place that would that would later be named Coatesville. The facility would be known as the Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory. Isaac’s daughter Rebecca would marry Dr. Charles Lukens and eventually she would run the company. From the efforts of the Pennock, Lukens, and Houston families the world-renowned Lukens Steel Company developed. It is now part of Arcelor Mittal, an international iron and steel conglomerate and is the only remaining Chester County iron and steel-making firm with pre-1800 roots.
Happy Birthday Iron and Steel Making in Chester County!