Barnum & Richardson Foundry

Barnum and Richardson Foundry. . , For nearly a century Lime Rock was the home of the Barnum and Richardson Company. Started in 1830 by Milo Barnum and his son-in-law Leonard Richardson the company manufactured cast iron goods made from iron smelted locally. The nearest iron furnace was only a few hundred feet to the north of the foundry and used the same waterway (Salmon Kill) as its source of power. The foundry buildings straddled the creek where today's highway bridge now stands. Severely damaged by a flood in 1955 the buildings were demolished and the road was straightened removing all traces of the once prosperous industry. The main office for the company was also located here also and still stands as a private residence just to the east of this sign. , , While Barnum and Richardson manufactured cast iron goods of many types, they became most famous for their railroad car wheels. Nineteenth century car wheels were made from cast iron because steel castings were still much too expensive. Cast iron is not ideal for car wheels because it is often brittle and broken wheels cause train wrecks. The wheels made here, however, were exceptionally resistant to cracking and also very resistant to wear usually outlasting the cars they carried. , , These exceptional characteristics were said to stem from the use of Salisbury Iron as the raw material from which they were cast. Indeed competitors were not able to match the durability of these wheels unless they bought their iron from Salisbury furnaces, so there was something unique about the iron made here. , , As business grew, Barnum and Richardson acquired more properties (see column at right) becoming the largest employer in the Salisbury area. , , When cast steel finally became inexpensive enough to replace Salisbury Iron the car wheel market shifted to steel, with cast iron car wheels ultimately being outlawed in the United States.bn , Because of that, no scientific investigation was ever conducted to determine the special properties of Salisbury iron. , , Working at the Foundry , Working at the foundry was hot, tough work. There was little in the way of machinery to assist in moving cast iron parts and molds around and what little there was tended to be human powered. , , The picture on the left below shows the foundry crew gathered on the loading dock with dozens of finished car wheels ready for shipment. The view on the right shows a worker who appears to be carrying one of the 660 pound wheels on his shoulder. , , It is easy to imagine a dismal workplace with tired, humorless workers but that is not what happened here. A record of working conditions in the foundry was written by William Wallace who was superintendent of the East Canaan Barnum and Richardson furnace. As such he was a frequent visitor to the foundry here in Lime Rock and he paints a very different picture of working conditions and morale than one might imagine. , , The "wheel” in that picture is in fact a much lighter wooden pattern. This deception was often performed for unsuspecting visitors by the foundry crew. In the left hand view another pattern can be seen on the extreme left (it is the one with no hole in the center). It is likely that the photographer was treated to the "wheel carry” stunt just after tripping the shutter. Note that the real wheel standing upright in the center of the view is very carefully balanced rather than leaning on the worker behind it. Other stunts were also common at the foundry. There were rubber snakes, rigged card decks and fake amputated fingers among the things used to entertain visitors. , , The men who worked here were competent, well paid and and well treated by management. Morale was high and it is little wonder that they produced superior products. This is not in keeping with the modern view of 19th century industrial life, but it was true here. , , Expanding the Business , As Barnum and Richardson grew, the Company acquired other businesses becoming what we now call "vertically integrated”. At first they purchased or leased more iron furnaces to provide a steady, dependable source of iron for their products. , , Then came other foundries. B&R acquired a foundry in Chicago which they used to supply car wheels to western railroads. This operation was larger than the one here in Lime Rock and produced wheels for many years. B&R also helped create the Ensign Foundry in Huntington West Virginia (William H. Barnum was the president of that firm). The combined output of the three plants made B&R the largest maker of railroad car wheels in the United States. The Ensign foundry advertised that it used only "Salisbury Iron” in all of its castings, as did the Chicago works. , , Next came mines. B&R acquired sole possession of the Ore Hill mine in nearby Salisbury and then added more nearby properties to its list. These acquisitions insured an reliable supply of ore to feed the furnaces. , , The last property added to the portfolio was the New England Chemical Company which provided charcoal fuel for the B&R furnaces. Thus at its peak B&R owned all of the resources needed to produce their castings from raw material to finished product.