Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument

Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument. , Ironworking here in East Canaan began in the late 1750s when Samuel Forbes and his son-in-law, John Adam, built a forge just west of this site. They made wrought iron articles for farms and mills as well as ship anchors. It is hard to believe such a product was made here so far from the ocean but many anchors were made here and carried off to Boston for sale. The first blast furnace in East Canaan was built in 1832 by John Adam's son, Samuel Forbes Adam, about a mile west of here and was the cold blast type. That furnace made it possible to melt iron and thus produce pig iron bars and cast iron. The previous forges could only soften the iron and shape it by hammering., Beckley furnace was built in 1847 by John Adam Beckley, John Adam's grandson, and used a hot blast process in which exhaust gas from the furnace is recycled and burned to preheat the incoming blast air. This technique increases the production of the furnace while reducing the fuel cost. It also reduces the release of carbon monoxide gas into the atmosphere, but that was probably not a consideration in 1847.
, In 1872 a third furnace was built near the original cold blast furnace to the west of here. Thus at one time there were three furnaces here in East Canaan., Production here at Beckley continued until late fall of 1919 when the furnace was shut down for the last time. Production continued at furnace #3 until 1923 when operations finally ceased there as well. An attempt was made to reorganize the iron works but it was unsuccessful and the property was liquidated in the late 1920s., In 1945 civil engineer Charles Harte became concerned that all traces of this important industry would vanish unless prompt action was taken to preserve it. Harte persuaded the State of Connecticut to acquire the property in 1946 and Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument was born - the first site to bear that title., It took another 50 years before a group of local residence formed a committee to lead the effort to restore and stabilize the furnace. In 1996 work was undertaken to preserve the site for future generations. Today the site is managed by the State of Connecticut, the Town of North Canaan and The Friends of Beckley Furnace, a local non-profit that was formed from the original preservation committee., Today Beckley Furnace remains the only industrial monument in the State of Connecticut. The Friends group gives tours in the summer months and hosts special programs for schools, tour groups, professional societies and the general public., [Captions:] , Oldest known picture of Beckley Furnace taken circa 1875. All of the buildings around the furnace are of wood. At this time the furnace was only 38 feet high. Railroad box cars are visible in the upper right corner. Barely discernable on the left center edge a girl stands on the bridge, probably watching the photographer., Beckley Furnace in 1896. Some wooden buildings have been replaced with brick structures having metal roofing. The charging bridge used to load raw materials into the top of the furnace is clearly visible. The charcoal sheds and the bridge were still wood at this time. Shortly after this picture was taken the charging bridge and adjacent charcoal (far left) were consumed by fire. The furnace, while unharmed, was out of service for several years afterward. Note the horse standing in the open doorway with the glow of the hearth as a background., A view from the other side of the furnace shows a new fire resistant charging bridge with metal roofing. Also visible in this view is the 70 foot high smokestack and just behind it the hot blast stove used to heat the incoming air. The large pipe at the extreme left carries the cold blast air from the blast pump at the waterfall to the stove. The two small buildings with rounded roofs were added toward the end of operation that permitted the use of steam to power the blast pump.