The following press release was published by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service on April 8. It is reproduced in full below.

This hot blast anthracite furnace was built in 1853 as an attempt to modernize the iron making process. Instead of charcoal, it used anthracite coal mined in northeastern Pennsylvania as fuel. Unfortunately, Hopewell’s remote location made it too expensive to ship the needed coal, and this furnace was abandoned in 1857.

Learn how the Industrial Revolution influenced Hopewell Furnace.

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service