We also find some small forges located at Lower Jay, N. Y. The
ore
used here was also
obtained from the Palmer Hill mine.
1815
A rolling mill was constructed and operations commenced in 1816 by
the Keeseville Rolling
and Slitting Mill Company of Keeseville, N. Y. The
principal product of
the company was the manufacture of nail-plate which was
subsequently cut into
strips for the manufacture of horse shoe nails.
1822
Major James Dalliba, in connection with John D. Dickenson of Troy,
erected the first
furnace at Port Henry. The ore used was obtained from a vein
near the
furnace. The iron made was shipped to Troy, N. Y., until 1827
when the production of
pig iron was abandoned and the works turned to the
manufacture of stoves
and hollow-ware.
1823
The Chateaugay Ore Body, at what is now Lyon Mountain, N. Y.,
was supposed to have
been discovered by a trapper named Collins.
1824
The Peru Iron Company, located in the Ausable Valley of New York,
was organized with a
capital of $200,000.00, operating forges and rolling
mills along the river.
About this same time, Zephaniah Palmer, a surveyor from the vicinity
of Ausable Forks, N.
Y., discovered iron ore outcroppings. Ore from this
mine was sold mainly
to the Peru Iron Company; however, being lower in
metallic iron than the
Arnold ore, it required concentration. In 1837 a separa-
tor was built on the
Ausable River at Clintonville, N. Y.
1826
The first forge in the town of Saranac, N. Y., on the Saranac River,
was
built by Hull, Hopper
and Baker. The ore was obtained from the Arnold
Ore Bed, located about
fourteen miles away.
In the subsequent years it was rebuilt, new machinery installed and it
became one of the
largest and most efficient forges in the Adirondacks. The ore
used was obtained from
the Tremblay mine, near Redford, N. Y.
Two blast furnaces were finished and put in operation at Clintonville,
N. Y. They were
charged with wood and charcoal, and blown by cold blast.
Ironware as well as
pig iron was made here, the castings being poured direct
from the
furnace. In January, 1828, a cable factory, manufacturing large
ship
anchors and iron
cables, was erected.
I
1827
Approximately three miles west of Essex Village, N. Y., Gould, Ross and
Low erected and
operated a rolling mill for the fabrication of bars and iron
plates from blooms.
1828
A four-fire forge was built six miles west of the Lake on Putnam's
Creek, near Crown
Point, N. Y. A good grade of iron was evidently manu-
factured at this
plant, for records indicate an order received from the government
for a large quantity
of this iron, which was to be fabricated into chain cables.
The first forge at Morrisonville, N.Y. was built by Heman Smith and
Josiah Wilcox.
However, the freshet of 1830 destroyed it, ending the iron
business at
Morrisonville.
Burt and Vanderwarker erected a four-fire forge at Ausable Forks,
N. Y. They
procured their ore from the Palmer Hill mine, located two miles
north of the village.
1831
J. & J. Rogers began making iron at Black Brook, N.Y., hauling the
ore
for their forges from
Arnold Hill.
1832
A mining company of ten men was formed and purchased what is
known as the Averill
ore beds, located in the vicinity of Dannemora, N. Y.;
but the Company did
nothing to develop them at this time.
1833
Heman and Cyrus Cady built a forge at Cadyville, N. Y. located a few
miles above
Morrisonville on the Saranac River.
1836
Sailly & Averill erected a forge on the Saranac River between the
villages
of Morrisonville and
Cadyville, N. Y. In 1837 Sailly & Averill's forge was
destroyed by
fire. In its stead they erected a forge consisting of two fires
and a
hammer in one end, run
by Mr. Sailly, and two fires and a hammer in the other
end, run by Mr.
Averill. In connection with this four-fire forge, they had a
large rolling mill for
making wagon axles, etc.
1837
The Rogers began making iron at Ausable Forks, N. Y. During this
same period, iron
manufacture flourished throughout this valley at Wilmington,
New Sweden and
Clintonville. Near the Arnold ore bed was the two-fire Batty
forge, and above that
the Etna blast furnace, operated under the name of the
Peru Smelting Company.
During this period, Goulding and Peabody erected a foundry, employing
about sixty men,
casting the principal machinery for all the forges, saw mills,
grist mills, in the
valleys of Ausable and Saranac, at Keeseville, N. Y. They
used the Port Henry,
N. Y. pig iron.
In subsequent years the iron-workers in this valley manufactured such
things as wire and
horseshoe nails. One Daniel Dodge invented, received
a patent for, and
manufactured the first machine for turning out, mechanically,
forged horseshoe
nails.
The Merriams, father and son, erected and operated the Stower forge at
Lewis, N. Y., located
about five miles from Elizabethtown, N. Y. The forge
contained three fires,
and used ore procured from Moriah.
1841
The Caldwell mine, the first mine opened in the Saranac Valley, was
operated by
Cashman, During the period between 1841 and 1844 the owners
of the property
erected a separator and a four-fire forge. This mine is located
at Clayburg, N. Y.,
and is now owned by the Chateaugay Ore and Iron
Company.
Peter Tremblay discovered and opened the Tremblay mine. This mine,
which produced a good
grade of ore, was located one mile south of Redford, on
the south side of the
Saranac River, and is now owned by the Chateaugay Ore
and Iron Company.
1842
Charles K. Averill and F. L. C. Sailly bought up the interests of the
Averill ore beds at
Dannemora, N. Y. They opened the mine, built a separa-
tor, and did a lively
business for a number of years. The business was subse-
quently conducted by
Burton, Chittenden & Company and finally abandoned.
The first iron ore separator using water jigs in the town of Moriah,
near Mineville, N. Y.,
was built by Eliphalet Hall.
1844
The first forge at Russia, N. Y. was established by Spaulding &
Parsons.
1845
Hammond & Bogue erected a furnace at Crown Point, N. Y. The
ore
was obtained from the
bed owned by the firm, located about a mile from
the works. The
product was shipped to the Bessemer Steel Works at Troy,
N.Y.
On the north side of the Saranac River, at Plattsburg, N. Y., Hobart
&
Hedges built a
six-fire Catalan forge, which in 1873 was replaced by a six-fire
Catalan forge, erected
by Mr. Christopher Norton.
A forge was built at Russia, N. Y., by Jackson & Stearns. The
owner
ship of this forge subsequently changed hands many times.
Among the owners
we find in 1856, the Company of Lee, Sherman & Witherbee of Port
Henry,
N. Y. In 1864, it came under control of Parsons & Company of
Saranac,
N. Y. In 1872, it was obtained by Andrew Williams and C. F.
Norton; and
in 1878 it became the possession of the firm of Williams & Moffitt.
1846
A six-fire forge was erected at Valley Forge, N. Y., a half mile south
of
Elizabethtown and about eight and one-half miles from Westport, N.
Y. This
forge obtained its ore from the Burt mine, a distance of about ten
miles.
The Westport forge, located about four miles from Westport on the
Boquet river, contained three fires and one hammer. It worked
Moriah ore,
transported by land from Westport. It was owned by W. P. and P.
D.
Merriam.
1847
The original Port Henry furnace was demolished and a larger one built.
The ore was obtained from the Cheever bed, located nearby.
1848
Francis H. Jackson erected, at a cost exceeding $100,000.00, the West-
port Furnace. It
was located in the North West bay, about one mile from
Westport village. Its
product was pig iron and was made from ore from the
Cheever bed.
Messrs. McIntyre, Robertson and Henderson built a blast furnace at
Tahawus, Essex County, N. Y., for smelting titaniferous iron ore from
the
immense deposits located there. The old furnace still stands (in
1934)
1851
A forge was built at Elsinore, N. Y., by Moore and Gillman.
1852
Witherbee, Sherman & Company, of Mineville, N. Y., began experi-
ments with magnetic separation in this year, but it was not until the
'80s that
magnetic separation became commercial.
1853
It is interesting to note that, at Port Henry, the old charcoal
furnaces
were repaired and anthracite was substituted for charcoal as
fuel. The ores
used were obtained from both the Cheever and Barton beds.
1854
One of the blast furnaces completed in this year at Port Henry, N. Y.,
is said to have been the first furnace ever made completely incased in
an iron shell.
It was 46 feet high with a 15 foot bosh.
1861
The Fairbanks Mine, on top of the mountain back of Dannemora,
N. Y., was opened by
Jason Fairbanks. It was worked some by him, and
subsequently by Andrew
Williams and by the State; but it proved too lean and
inaccessible, finally
being abandoned.
1862
A new forge was built at Plattsburg, N. Y., to replace the Sailly &
Averill plant.
They manufactured slabs for boiler plates, blooms, and refined
billets.
1863
The Ausable Horse-Nail Company was formed, with a capital of
$40.000.00, at Ausable Forks, N. Y. They began operations with
ten machines and sold during the first year one hundred tons of nails.
1864
At Irondale, about one mile above the Forks of the Saranac River, Peter
Tremblay built a forge
and separator. He used ore from the mine bearing his
name.
The Ticonderoga Iron Company, under the direction of W. E. Calkins,
erected a six-fire
forge at the Lower Falls, about two miles from the steamboat
landing at
Ticonderoga, N. Y. The ore used was shipped from Port Henry,
N.Y.
1865
The Fletcherville furnace was blown in. It was located about
eight
miles northwest of
Port Henry. It was owned by S. H. and J. G. Witherbee
and F. P.
Fletcher. The ore was obtained from the company's mines located
nearby. A large
proportion of the iron produced here was used in the Bessemer
works at Troy, N.Y.
1867
Thomas F. Witherbee was one of the first furnace managers in the
United States to use
the chemical laboratory in connection with the regular oper-
ation of the
furnace. He started this practice when operating the
Fletcherville
charcoal blast
furnace, about this year, near Mineville, N. Y.
1868
At Irona, in the town of Altona, N. Y., Asa Reynolds built a four-fire
forge. The ore
used at first was transported from the Port Henry and Arnold
Hill mines, but later
brought from the vicinity of Lower Chateaugay Lake.
Foot, Mead, Waldo and Weed made a contract with Edmund Rogers,
son of Lloyd N.
Rogers, for the working of the Chateaugay ore beds, and began
the development of the
properties.
1869
Frank Palmer erected a five-fire forge at Altona, N. Y. Like the
Reyn-
olds forge, Palmer at first obtained his ore from Port Henry and Arnold
Hill,
subsequently changing to that of the Chateaugay Ore Bed.
1870
The top of the Fletcherville blast furnace near Mineville, N. Y., was
closed with a four-foot bell and hopper. This was one of the
first furnaces in
the United States to adopt a closed top. Anthracite was tried
because of a
shortage of charcoal. The furnace was raised to a height of 60
feet and the
tunnel head increased to eight feet diameter.
1871
Bowen and Signor obtained ownership of the Hull, Hopper and Baker
forge in Saranac Lake, N. Y. on the Saranac River The forge was
improved
and enlarged, making it one of the most up-to-date in the Valley.
1874
A new rolling mill, nail factory and foundry were built at Ausable
Forks, N.Y., by J. & J. Rogers.
Operations of a ten-fire Catalan forge were begun by Pope, Williams
&
Company of Plattsburg, N. Y., at Belmont, N. Y., on the Chateaugay
River,
just below the outlet of Lower Chateaugay Lake. Ore was obtained
for the
forges from the famous Chateaugay ore beds.
A dam was built at the outlet of Lower Chateaugay Lake, furnishing
water power for operating the Catalan forges at Belmont, N. Y.
1876
The first set of Siemens-Cowper-Cochrane fire brick hot blast stoves
erected in this country was built at one of the Crown Point furnaces in
Essex
County, N.Y.
1877
On March 15th, the iron works at Belmont, N. Y. were bought and
operated by the Chateaugay Ore and Iron Company, of Lyon Mountain, N.
Y.,
which was also the owner of the Chateaugay Ore Bed.
1883
At this time there were about 277 forges in the Champlain district,
Northern New York. They included 1171 forge fires, and produced
nearly
44,000 tons in this calendar year. In 1890, the number of forges
had been
reduced to 14, with 102 fires. Their production in 1889 was only
12,397
net tons of blooms.
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