I can't believe the amount of structures preserved from this PA blast furnace. It is worth the trip. We will never see anything else in such good condition. It is probably only still there because the buildings were made of stone too.

http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/BHSM/toh/co ... p?secid=14

_________________
If exploring mines is wrong, then baby... I don't want to be right.

Yeah, I like the updates. Some pretty good shots! Glad to see some of the furnaces in such good condition still.

The Cornwall stuff is amazing too, but they probably kept up with the maintanence... This stuff doesn't really last without it..

We should plan a blast furnace field trip or two! Cornwall looks like a great plae to spend a day. I would also like to see the Catasauqua works. The original furnace at Boonton was also built by Thomas Crane, and was an almost exact replica of the ones still standing at Catasaqua. Since we can't see the ones at Boonton anymore (Thanks J.W.! ) Catasaqua would be the next best bet.

I cant wait for Blast furnaces! part II featuring New York furnaces. Marc -when are we going to do that?

Remember the mining museum we had mentioned earlier under this topic; this is the museum on the same site as the engine museum and kent furnace? Well the director has published a book on connecticut mining called, you guessed it: Connecticut Mining

here is an article

_________________
If exploring mines is wrong, then baby... I don't want to be right.

WOW! lets go buy it this saturday, we can tell him about our minecave too!

I guess I'm spoiled when it comes to furnaces . All within 20 miles from my house , I can visit 5 NJ / NY iron furnaces in a day ! I took my daughter to see the lime kilns in Sparta today after hiking the trails by the Edison mine .

Clinton furnace , partial collapse about 5 years ago

Wawayanda furnace , fenced and stabilized , in state park

Greenwood furnace , a failed attempt at iron making but interesting shale construction

Long Pond Ironworks , 3 furnace ruins , two waterwheels , assorted buildings

Stering ? furnace , just below Sterling Lake ( good place for a furnace , duh ) , complete structure with a strange wood halo supported by pillars ????

I know I've probably walked right by many mines while hiking in these areas but I'm slowly learning what to look for to identify them .

Wow, your area must be loaded with mines for blast furnaces to be so close together. Is there a common river that these furnaces work off of?

Definitly post some pics if you get a chance. I always like seeing the unique and different ways they can be built.

_________________
If exploring mines is wrong, then baby... I don't want to be right.

They ran off of lake fed streams in what is moslty the Newark Watershed area .
The Clinton furnace ran off of what is now the Canister reservior , Wawayanda off of Lake Wawayanda , Long Pond Ironwrks off of the Wanaque river fed by Greenwood Lake , Sterling off of Sterling Lake , and the failed Greenwood Furnace off of an unnamed pond (which is now mostly a swamp ) that feeds a trickling brook .

There are a few more that are close by which I havent visited yet . With the nice weather forcasted for this week I might just head out and walk off some of my beer gut !

I'll get some pics together with a link to my Yahoo photos so I don't eat up too much IronMiners bandwidth .

I couldn't find my old disk with the Clinton furnace before it collapsed . I'll post 'em if I can dig it up . Here's the link to some furnace pics .

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/albert_piner/my_photos

_________________
Don't step in the bear crap !!!

Very cool, I can see now how they are lake powered because of the steepness of the land to provide water falls. I think I'm still a little naive in My CT furnaces.

_________________
If exploring mines is wrong, then baby... I don't want to be right.

I took some more pics yesterday at Southfield ?? and Sterling furnaces . I also checked out the Sterling Mine ruins and found an old beer bottle from 1912 !

Same link as before http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/albert_piner/my_photos

_________________
Don't step in the bear crap !!!