Pine Barrens Iron- Forging a Nation
Mix charcoal, seashells and bog ore, add heat and what do you get? IRON.
From the mid 1700's until the late `1800's New Jersey's Pine Barrens was a hot bed of iron making.
The Pine Barrens has a unique ecology.
Most forested areas progress over time from grasslands, to brush , to softwoods like Pine, then onto hardwoods.
The Pine Barrens have never gotten past the softwood stage.
That is key to the success of the iron making process that took place.
Pine needles are highly acidic.
Lining the forest floor, they decompose and get rained on.
That now highly acidic rain water soaks down through the sandy soil.
As it soaks through the soil and the clay beneath it it leaches soluble iron from the clay.
The underground water supply, or aquifer, in the pine barrens is shallow, close to the surface.
At times it reaches the surface.
When it does it deposits this iron along the banks of rivers, streams, swamps, and bogs.
Thus the name bog ore.
Iron makes would harvest this bog ore in long boats.
They would bring back the ore to places like Batsto, Atsion and hundreds of other iron furnaces and forges that dotted the pines.
The pine trees played another role in this industry.
If you take pine wood, and slowly cook it in pits, you create charcoal.
That charcoal burned at just the right speed and intensity to fire the furnaces and forges that created the bog iron.
There is another ingredient to this recipe they needed a flux.
Flux is added to the mixture and it helps get rid of the impurities, leaving just the iron.
Lime is a good flux, and since the pinleands was not far from the Jersey shore, sea shells were the obvious choice.
Water is necessary for human life and for making iron.
Most of the furnaces were built near an available water supply.
This water was used to fuel the bellows that would blast air into the bottom of the furnace to keep the fires going.
The blast furnaces were built of brick, and at their center was the crucible.
There was usually an opening near the top where ironmen would dump in the bog ore, seashells and charcoal in layers.
The furnace would go into Blast, and the iron making would begin.
It was not a quick process and the furnaces had to be manned round the clock.
As the mixture heated, the flux would float the impurities to the top where they would be raked off.
If you visit some of the lost towns like Atsion and take a walk in the woods you can still see some of this "slag" today.
Bits of charcoal will be staring out at you from the black mass.
When the ironmaster decided the time was right, the bottom of the furnace would be opened, and the molten iron would flow out into channels dug into the sand.
These channels branched off into short fat straight channels where the molten iron would form what was called a pig.
They called it a pig because they resembled baby pigs suckling their mother.
After it cooled and solidified this pig iron was taken to forges where it was reheated and poured into molds to make items like pots, cannon shot, or water pipe.
Much of the water pipe used in Philadelphia came from the forges of the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Some if it is still in use today under the streets of Philly.
Some iron would go to slitting mills where the iron was heated and pounded into flat sheets to make flat items, like fireplaces.
There were also decorative pieces made in molds, one of the most famous being George Washington's crest, or cipher.
Washington ordered 4 of these ciphers for his home in Mount Vernon through agents in Philadelphia and they were cast at Batsto.
Two still exist at Mount Vernon.
Iron making in the New Jersey Pine Barrens died out in the late 1800's when coal and a better grade of ore was found in Pennsylvania.
One of these places was Slocum's Hollow, which is now part of present day Scranton.
Ebenezer Slocum built iron furnaces along the Lackawanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
He went out of business.
The story goes that the iron was so pure that when he made nails from it, they would shatter when hit with a hammer.
George and Seldon Scranton bought the furnaces and began forging T-bars which lead to the expansion of the railroad.
It should come as no surprise that the Steamtown national Historic site, relating the history of Steam locomotives, is right across the street.
For More Information visit www.
losttownsvideo.
com Bill Mecca2006 Aegis Award
From the mid 1700's until the late `1800's New Jersey's Pine Barrens was a hot bed of iron making.
The Pine Barrens has a unique ecology.
Most forested areas progress over time from grasslands, to brush , to softwoods like Pine, then onto hardwoods.
The Pine Barrens have never gotten past the softwood stage.
That is key to the success of the iron making process that took place.
Pine needles are highly acidic.
Lining the forest floor, they decompose and get rained on.
That now highly acidic rain water soaks down through the sandy soil.
As it soaks through the soil and the clay beneath it it leaches soluble iron from the clay.
The underground water supply, or aquifer, in the pine barrens is shallow, close to the surface.
At times it reaches the surface.
When it does it deposits this iron along the banks of rivers, streams, swamps, and bogs.
Thus the name bog ore.
Iron makes would harvest this bog ore in long boats.
They would bring back the ore to places like Batsto, Atsion and hundreds of other iron furnaces and forges that dotted the pines.
The pine trees played another role in this industry.
If you take pine wood, and slowly cook it in pits, you create charcoal.
That charcoal burned at just the right speed and intensity to fire the furnaces and forges that created the bog iron.
There is another ingredient to this recipe they needed a flux.
Flux is added to the mixture and it helps get rid of the impurities, leaving just the iron.
Lime is a good flux, and since the pinleands was not far from the Jersey shore, sea shells were the obvious choice.
Water is necessary for human life and for making iron.
Most of the furnaces were built near an available water supply.
This water was used to fuel the bellows that would blast air into the bottom of the furnace to keep the fires going.
The blast furnaces were built of brick, and at their center was the crucible.
There was usually an opening near the top where ironmen would dump in the bog ore, seashells and charcoal in layers.
The furnace would go into Blast, and the iron making would begin.
It was not a quick process and the furnaces had to be manned round the clock.
As the mixture heated, the flux would float the impurities to the top where they would be raked off.
If you visit some of the lost towns like Atsion and take a walk in the woods you can still see some of this "slag" today.
Bits of charcoal will be staring out at you from the black mass.
When the ironmaster decided the time was right, the bottom of the furnace would be opened, and the molten iron would flow out into channels dug into the sand.
These channels branched off into short fat straight channels where the molten iron would form what was called a pig.
They called it a pig because they resembled baby pigs suckling their mother.
After it cooled and solidified this pig iron was taken to forges where it was reheated and poured into molds to make items like pots, cannon shot, or water pipe.
Much of the water pipe used in Philadelphia came from the forges of the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Some if it is still in use today under the streets of Philly.
Some iron would go to slitting mills where the iron was heated and pounded into flat sheets to make flat items, like fireplaces.
There were also decorative pieces made in molds, one of the most famous being George Washington's crest, or cipher.
Washington ordered 4 of these ciphers for his home in Mount Vernon through agents in Philadelphia and they were cast at Batsto.
Two still exist at Mount Vernon.
Iron making in the New Jersey Pine Barrens died out in the late 1800's when coal and a better grade of ore was found in Pennsylvania.
One of these places was Slocum's Hollow, which is now part of present day Scranton.
Ebenezer Slocum built iron furnaces along the Lackawanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
He went out of business.
The story goes that the iron was so pure that when he made nails from it, they would shatter when hit with a hammer.
George and Seldon Scranton bought the furnaces and began forging T-bars which lead to the expansion of the railroad.
It should come as no surprise that the Steamtown national Historic site, relating the history of Steam locomotives, is right across the street.
For More Information visit www.
losttownsvideo.
com Bill Mecca2006 Aegis Award
