I went to Hopewell Furnace at the end of January, checked out the town area and the furnace. The furnace is really impressive. Of the iron furnaces in the pines, I know only Allaire has any significant part left of the old pinelands furances, and that is slightly less impressive for having to have the little roof over it.
My question is for those who know more about the old furnaces than I do (which should be many folks) - how does Hopewell compare to the other pine barrens furnaces? Would the layouts have been about the same? The size? The attached building so that workers could dump the correct materials into the top? The waterpower working the bellows? The process itself seemed about the same to me from what I remember.
My question is for those who know more about the old furnaces than I do (which should be many folks) - how does Hopewell compare to the other pine barrens furnaces? Would the layouts have been about the same? The size? The attached building so that workers could dump the correct materials into the top? The waterpower working the bellows? The process itself seemed about the same to me from what I remember.
