From there we headed to the historic Hopewell Furnace. This iron foundry operated from 1771 to 1883. It is new managed by the National Park Service and is the most complete reconstructed colonial era iron foundry in the US.
Collier’s hut – the Collier was the person responsible for making the charcoal used in the blast furnaceThe hut was quickly and easily constructed (in tipi form) from logs and dirt. This enabled the Collier and his assistants to set up camp close to the “charcoal pit” which took several days to cycle.Forced air for the blast furnace was provided by a water wheel that operated two cylindrical air pumps. The water wheel is still functioning today.Here you can see the connecting rods that convert the circular motion of the wheel to “up and down” motion of the piston.
Foreground: canon cast in the foundry. Background: stack of “Pig Iron” from the foundry. In addition to military hardware the foundry was famous for producing a line of wood stoves.Trough for making “Pig Iron” When the furnace is breached, the molten iron flows through channels cut into the dirt floor. The hardened ingots are called Pig Iron because this configuration (supposedly) looks like a suckling pig.
Somewhere along the way we stopped to take a picture of this barn
The final event of the day was the “farewell dinner” at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord. We ate way too much, reviewed the high points of the week, and took a couple of official reunion photos:
This is the first time that all members of G-4 have been together. This shot is in birth order from oldest (Todd) to youngest (Ann)Same shot with Aunt Cathy front and centerThe whole shebang (Photo taken by Josh who is a really nice guy, even if he doesn’t yet qualify for admission into the clan.
