St. Charles

St. Charles. Hot-Blast Anthracite Coal Furnace (1854-1897). , Peter Grubb was a Pennsylvania iron industry pioneer who founded the Grubb Family Iron Dynasty when he discovered Cornwall Iron Banks in 1737, still the largest domestic iron ore deposit east of Lake Superior. He founded Cornwall, Pennsylvania and became an ironmaster as he mined the ore and built the historic Cornwall Charcoal Iron Furnace. He named them after Cornwall, UK, the birthplace of his father John Grubb., Clement Brooke Grubb (1815-1889), four generations removed from Peter Grubb, entered the family business in 1832 and partnered with his older brother Edward in 1833, under the name E. and C.B., becoming the manager of the Mount Hope Estate. He sold his half interest in the Mount Hope Estate to his younger brother Alfred in 1845 and moved to Lancaster. He left E. and C.B. about that time, apparently to strike out on his own. He acquired the Chestnut Hill Ore Banks by 1851 and built the St. Charles Furnace in 1852. In 1872, Clement formed a new partnership with his son Charles (C.B. Grubb and Son) and they purchased the Henry Clay Furnace (renamed St. Charles #2) in 1875. At his death, Clement was said to have been the wealthiest person in Lancaster County., The Chestnut Hill Ore Mine was developed by two decendents(sic) of Peter Grubb, the gentleman who discovered, developed, and owned the famous Cornwall Iron Mine in Lebanon County about 20 miles north of this location. The mine provided lump and wash iron ore (limonite minerals) for smelting in a(sic) furnaces located in nearby Columbia, PA. The ores were suspended in a 100 foot or more soil column consisting of a heavy clay. The minerals originated through supergene enrichment meaning that iron derived from chemical weathering near the surface was redeposited and concentrated at at(sic) lower horizons. These ores contained a relatively high amount of phosporous(sic) which is deletrious for steel production. The ores did produce high quality wrought and cast iron for stoves, gun barrels, and iron plate. The mine operated until the mid-1880's when discovery and explotation(sic) of the Mesabi Iron Ores of Minnesota proved a more cost effective source of iron. A considerable amount of iron ore remains at this site. The site is now home to Lake Grubb, a recreational park near Silver Springs., The St. Charles Furnace was built in 1854 by Clement Brook Grubb, an ironmaster from the prominent Grubb iron mining and manufacturing family. The furnace was named after Charles I, the English king, who had borrowed money from Lord John Grubb. Grubb was president of the First National Bank of Lancaster, PA. and served as a vestryman of the St. James Episcopal Church of Lancaster. Grubb also purchased the nearby Henry Clay Furnace. Together, these two furnaces had an annual capacity of over 20,000 tons of pig iron, which was well known for its quality for boiler plate, bars, nails, and foundry work. In 1863, Grubb built a large iron ore roaster, the first of its kind in Lancaster County, to remove sulfur from the local ores used in the furnaces. The St. Charles Furnace was remodeled in 1879-80, but only six years later it went out of blast for the last time and was dismantled in 1897., The square stack support and stone walls of the ore roaster building still remain along the Lancaster County Northwest River Trail north of Columbia. The square stack supported the furnace. The domed shaped openings on three sides were used to house the "bustle pipe." The bustle pipe was used to convey hot high pressure air to the bish of the furnace. The furnace used anthracite coal to fuel the smelting process. The gases from the furnace were captured, cleaned, and forced into the stoves. The stoves were fire brick lined cylinders. Once the gases were introduced, they were ignited. The result was that the fire brick was heated to over 1,200 degrees. This heated air was then blown into the base of the furnace increasing the temperature needed to use anthracite coal. (Anthracite coal burned hotter, but required more energy to get and keep it burning)., Iron ore was mined from the quarry by pick and shovel. The ore wagons transported on small rails called "pony rails." The wagons were pulled by mules to bottom of the incline. The loaded wagons were then pulled to the top of the quarry using steam powered engines. The ore was transported to the furnaces via mule drawn freight wagons.