" I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
~ L.M. Montgomery
~ 1874-1942
This man's thoughts could well be echoing the words of L.M. Montgomery as he soaks in the October beauty at the picturesque Hopewell Furnace, Elverson, Pennsylvania.
Hopewell
Furnace National Historic Site in southeastern
Berks County near Elverson, Pennsylvania is an example of an American 19th
century rural “iron plantation.” The buildings include a blast furnace, the
ironmaster’s house and auxiliary structures including a blacksmith’s shop, a
company store and several worker’s houses.
Hopewell Furnace
was founded in 1771 by ironmaster Mark Bird for whom Birdsboro was named. The
site’s most prosperous time was during the 1820–1840 period with a brief boom
in production during the American Civil War. In the mid-19th century changes in
iron making, including a shift from charcoal to anthracite rendered smaller
furnaces like Hopewell obsolete. The site discontinued operations in 1883.
Today,
Hopewell Furnace consists of 14 restored structures in the core historic area,
52 features on the List of Classified Structures, and a total of 848 mostly
wooded acres. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site is located in the Hopewell
Big Woods and surrounded by French Creek State Park on three sides and the
State Game Lands to the south which preserves the lands the furnace utilized
for its natural resources.
