Colonial America
Bog iron was widely sought in colonial North America. Lake Massapoag in Massachusetts was drawn down by deepening the outlet channel in a search for bog iron. The Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, on the Saugus River in Saugus, Massachusetts operated between 1646 and 1668. The site contains a museum and several reconstructed buildings. The success of the Saugus Iron Works, and the rapid depletion of the region's natural bog iron, led them to send prospectors out into the surrounding countryside. In 1658 they bought 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) of land which covered areas that are now Concord, Acton, and Sudbury. They set up a large production facility in Concord, Massachusetts along the Assabet River with dams, ponds, watercourses and hearths, but by 1694 the natural bog iron there had also been exhausted, and the land was sold for farming.
The John Winthrop, Jr. Iron Furnace Site, on the National Register of Historic Places in Quincy, Massachusetts predated the Saugus site by a year, but on a smaller scale and with less success. Put into operation in 1645, it is considered to be the oldest iron blast furnace in the United States, although it operated for only two years.
In New Jersey, bog ore was mined and refined in Central & Southern New Jersey for the production of tools and wrought iron rails (many of which still grace stairs in Trenton and Camden), which took advantage of its natural rust resistance. During the American Revolution, the iron was used for cannon balls for the American colonial forces.
Bog iron was also found on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The remains of a commercial smelting operation near Snow Hill, Maryland are now a state and national historic site. Known as Furnace Town, it was called the Nassawango Iron Furnace after the nearby creek. The commercial furnace ran from about 1825 to 1850.
Read more about this topic: Bog Iron
Famous quotes related to colonial america:
“In colonial America, the father was the primary parent. . . . Over the past two hundred years, each generation of fathers has had less authority than the last. . . . Masculinity ceased to be defined in terms of domestic involvement, skills at fathering and husbanding, but began to be defined in terms of making money. Men had to leave home to work. They stopped doing all the things they used to do.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)