Iron Mining on Iron and Chestnut Hills, A Timeline

Iron Mining on Iron and Chestnut Hills, A Timeline. Iron Hill Museum and Science Center. , 1701 , 40,000 acres of land called "The Welsh Tract" was granted by William Penn to Welsh Baptists to build a new church and to mine for iron., 1702- James James, the 1st of the Welsh settlers to select land, chose 1,244 acres: from Iron Hill north to Christiana Creek. The Welsh mined or in small quantities., 1723 , Samuel James, millwright, inherited land from his father, James James, and continued mining and smelting operations near Christina Creek., With abundant iron ore, Samuel James convinced 8 partners, (Philadelphia Iron Masters), to open "Abbington Iron Works." They purchased 1,000 more acres and built a large-capacity cold blast furnace. Pa. governor William Keith reported that it cost 4,000 Pounds to build Abbington Furnace., 1735 , Samuel James continued to operate the furnace for 9 years, extensively mining the iron ore. The Abbington operation suffered financial collapse, likely because a low-cost source of flux, (calcium carbonate), needed to separate impurities from the ore, was not available., 1841 , David C. Wood, Philadelphia Iron Master, acquired and worked the iron pits from ca. 1841 - 1862, 21 years. It is likely that the ore was shipped to Principio Furnace, in Maryland, by the Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wilmington Railroad, which had reached Newark in 1837. After 1850, the demand for iron greatly increased with railroads needing rails, axels, wheels, and bridges., 1862 , George P. Whitaker, owner of Principio Furnace, MD. purchased and operated the ore pits from 1862-1884. The works employed 20 men, mining and washing ore and shipping by rail to Principio. It continued for 22 Years., 1873 , William McConaughey opened an ore pit on Chestnut Hill. He employed 40 men, with an output of 25 Tons per day. It was washed and shipped to Montgomery, PA Iron Works, and Wright and Cook in Montour, PA. The operation was abandoned in 1884, 11 years later., 1881 , The Cooch Brothers opened a new pit on Iron Hill, south of Whitaker's works. It was operated until 1893, as the last iron ore mining operation in Pencader., 1893 , The end of mining on Iron Hill. Newspapers reported that the ore ran out. It is more likely that the rising costs of ore mining and shipping made the enterprise unprofitable., A Furnace Uses 3 Ingredients to Make Iron: , Iron Ore, Charcoal, and Flux, (Calcium Carbonate)., Woodchoppers had to master a basic skill of cutting all cordwood to the same length to form the three tiers within the charcoal pit mound. One end of each piece was cut on a bias so the wood would lean inward to form the mound shape with a slanted side to retain the dirt. Oak was the preferred wood and one man could cut two cords of wood per day., A charcoal maker, (a collier), standing atop a charcoal pit forge before firing it up. Colliers had special skills and knowledge, placing the wood into a tight mound with a chimney and vented to regulate the heat. They tended it for 7 to 10 days until it was completely charred. It then had to cool for one or more weeks., Charcoal pits used an average of 25 to 35 cords of wood, yielding 30 bushels of charcoal per cord. Charcoal wagons, holding about 100 bushels each, were usually drawn by two horses or a yoke of oxen. They had removable bottoms to gently deposit the load without shoveling. Shoveling broke it down too small, reducing its value., Charcoal Making was a secondary industry. Wood cutters, charcoal makers, (colliers), and wagon drivers were needed., [Caption:] , A Blast Furnace Model , 1. Hand-loading wheel- barrows of ore, charcoal, and flux layers. Layers were added night and day for 2 to 8 months., 2. As mixture burns, iron impurities bind with flux and create slag, which floats over iron. Pure iron sinks below into crucible and slag is removed from furnace., 3. Crucible opened to let iron flow into molds in sand floor., Water power was used to keep bellows pumping air into furnace to keep the fires hot., Diagram from "Iron in Colonial Times," by Mary Stetson Clark and Illustrator Joshua Tolford. Eastern National Park and Monument Association, 1981