Anthracite Furnace
A new ironmaking method
In 1853, the Hopewell partners built a hot-blast anthracite furnace here. This new furnace did not burn charcoal but used anthracite coal to smelt iron — an attempt to reduce fuel costs and increase iron production.
Hopewell's anthracite furnace operated for less than four years. By 1857, furnace machinery had been removed and was installed on a new furnace on the Schuylkill Canal. This suggests that the cost of hauling coal made the furnace operation uneconomical.
[Photograph caption]
There are no historical photographs of Hopewell's anthracite furnace. However, this 1848 hot-blast anthracite furnace in Boonton, New Jersey is similar to the one that once stood here.
Courtesy hmdb.org
