Folks:
In reading through a much longer article on malleable cast iron, I came across this paragraph, which provides yet another explanation of what happened to the iron furnaces scattered through the Pines:
Etna and Weymouth recall to us the industries which once existed in the Jersey pines. The furnaces in this district used bog ore, and their output was mainly devoted to castings. It is of some local interest to note that the first cast-iron water pipe produced in this country was made at Weymouth Furnace, which was located on Great Egg Harbor River, about six miles from May’s Landing. This furnace was erected in 1802, and has long since been abandoned. Etna Furnace was situated on a tributary of the south branch of Rancocas Creek, two and one-half miles from Medford, and four miles from Taunton, in Burlington County.—Swank’s “History of Iron in All Ages.” Of these once flourishing concerns scarcely a trace remains. The decline of this district as an iron-producing centre began about 1840, when Scotch foundry iron began to come into this country in considerable quantities. In the early days castings were made directly from the pig metal, and many furnaces in South Jersey were unable to meet the severe competition caused by cheaper Scotch pig, and the rapid decline and total extinction of the iron industry in that locality followed in the early fifties.
(Excerpted from "Malleable Cast Iron—Its History in the United States" by George C. Davis. Published in the Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. CXLVIII, No. 2, August 1899, page 141.)
We have all discussed the causality of iron production decline in the Pines with some attributing it to the ore playing out while others point to a loss of charcoal production stock. Perhaps these discussion points, in conjunction with the importation of Scottish pig iron, ultimately all contributed to the decline of the Pine Barrens iron industry.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
In reading through a much longer article on malleable cast iron, I came across this paragraph, which provides yet another explanation of what happened to the iron furnaces scattered through the Pines:
Etna and Weymouth recall to us the industries which once existed in the Jersey pines. The furnaces in this district used bog ore, and their output was mainly devoted to castings. It is of some local interest to note that the first cast-iron water pipe produced in this country was made at Weymouth Furnace, which was located on Great Egg Harbor River, about six miles from May’s Landing. This furnace was erected in 1802, and has long since been abandoned. Etna Furnace was situated on a tributary of the south branch of Rancocas Creek, two and one-half miles from Medford, and four miles from Taunton, in Burlington County.—Swank’s “History of Iron in All Ages.” Of these once flourishing concerns scarcely a trace remains. The decline of this district as an iron-producing centre began about 1840, when Scotch foundry iron began to come into this country in considerable quantities. In the early days castings were made directly from the pig metal, and many furnaces in South Jersey were unable to meet the severe competition caused by cheaper Scotch pig, and the rapid decline and total extinction of the iron industry in that locality followed in the early fifties.
(Excerpted from "Malleable Cast Iron—Its History in the United States" by George C. Davis. Published in the Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. CXLVIII, No. 2, August 1899, page 141.)
We have all discussed the causality of iron production decline in the Pines with some attributing it to the ore playing out while others point to a loss of charcoal production stock. Perhaps these discussion points, in conjunction with the importation of Scottish pig iron, ultimately all contributed to the decline of the Pine Barrens iron industry.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
