Mary Ann Forge Visit

[Ben Ruset]

BobM and I made the trip to Mary Ann Forge and to attempt to find Lebanon Glassworks today.

The weather was perfect today. It was around the mid-50s, but it seemed warmer in the woods. We came to the Forge site by following the main road from Rt. 70 through Presidential Lakes. After driving for a while, we came across a canal that the road bisected. We followed a small trail back into the woods alongside the canal to a site that was littered with old trash.

Scattered around were bits of brick and thick window glass. As we walked towards the canal we started seeing bits and pieces of molten iron, slag, and charcoal. When we got to the end of the trail that lead towards the canal, we saw the remains of a bridge or causeway. Bob remembers when it was somewhat intact, but now all that betrays it's existance are a few half rotted pilings.

Mary Ann Forge, according to Boyer in Early Forges and Furnaces of New Jersey first appeared on the Finley Map of New Jersey in 1831, but that there had been rumors of a furnace in operation there before. We found several large pieces of bog iron and some shells which might have been used as flux for the furnace. I think that at one point in time, between the late 1700s and the early 1800s there was a furnace there, but was located so close to Hanover Furnace that it closed rather quickly. Mary Ann Forge was noted for turning the raw pig iron made at Hanover Furnace into bar iron, and later into wagon wheels and axles.

While we didn't come any closer to finding Lebanon Glassworks, the trip to Mary Ann Forge was certainly worth it.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Bob,

I think there is more to the furnace site.

Both maps show the site as being on the other side of the road. The red lines show our path as we walked around the ruins site. The top waypoint was the pilings. The waypoint below was where we found the bog iron.

I bet there are more ruins in the woods on the other side of Mount Misery road, if you follow the canal on the other side.

 

[bobpbx]

Thats pretty neat what you are able to do with that map Ben. Did you notice the map says "furnace" and not forge? That's pretty telling isn't it? It explains why we found all that slag. I bet you a dollar there was a furnace there too, even if a small one.

You are right, there is probably more across the road. It never occurred to me to look there...........

 

[Ben Ruset]

I can download our tracks into the topo map and it will tell us where we walked. It's a great little setup.

I'm pretty sure Boyer was wrong and that there was a furnace there, but it would have had to have been older than Hanover. Hanover and Mary Ann were run by the same people.