Richmond Historical Commission
Richmond, Massachusetts 01254
William F. Edwards, Chairman
September 20, 1999 NEWS RELEASE
Richmond Furnace District Placed on National Register
RICHMOND, Mass. -- The
Richmond Furnace Historical and
Archaeological District was accepted
for inclusion on the National
Regester of Historic Places by the
National Park Service in Washington,
D.C., on Aug. 30. The L-shaped,
290-acre district is one of the
largest in Massachusetts, according
to Massachusetts Historical
Commission. Properties within the
district, which encompasses State,
Cone Hill and Furnace roads in
Richmond, are all privately
owned. Original Richmond Iron
Works buildings which still stand
include the office (dating from
1862), the iron master's house /
boarding house (circa 1832), an 1890
school and several worker dwellings
(1870s). Though in
deteriorating condition, the
pyramidic stone furnace stack,
renovated in 1905 to increase
capacity, survives. The
district includes 148 contributing
buildings, sites, structures and
objects and 36 non-contributing
(dating from after the period in
which the Richmond Furnace was
active) buildings, according to
William F. Edwards, chairman of the
Richmond Historical Commission. Mr.
Edwards was project leader for the
nomination process. Karl
Danneil of Nassau, N.Y., entered
survey data into a computer to
generate a detailed map of the
archeological site. Mr. Edwards
said more than 50 townspeople,
students, professionals and members
of the Society for Industrial
Archeology Northern and Southern New
England Chapters helped with the
field work and research necessary to
compile the detailed application.
The Massachusetts Historical
Commission voted to recommend the
property for national status in
July. A district's listing on
the National Register is recognition
of its historical significance and
affords an added level of review and
certain protections if there is
threat by a project such as highway
construction using federal
funds. Designation does not
place restrictions on what an owner
may do with his or her property. "A
large proportion of the historic
resources within the Richmond Furnace
Historic District are industrial
archaeological resources associated
with the extraction of the raw
materials required to make cast pig
iron," according to the application,
which adds, the district "is
significant for the degree of
integrity of location, design,
setting, materials, workmanship,
feeling, and association that it
retains." Industrial use within the
district dates to 1763, according to
Mr. Edwards, when saw and grist mills
were established along what later
became known as Furnace Brook.
The production of pig iron began in
1830 when Gates, Pettee & Company
built the charcoal-fired, stone stack
blast furnace to smelt iron ore found
in abundance in the nearby
hillsides. The district
includes both open pit and shaft mine
sites. The Richmond Furnace was one
of several dozen within the Salisbury
Iron District, which covers
northwestern Connecticut, western
Massachusetts and central eastern New
York, at its peak supported 55 blast
furnaces, of which the remains of 11
survive. Richmond's is the only one
in Massachusetts still standing.
Richmond Iron Works ended operations
in 1923, by which time its production
methods were severely antiquated.
Iron produced at Richmond from brown
hematite ore was particularly hard,
according to Mr. Edwards. It was sold
as a raw material to other ironworks
and foundries, which converted it to
finished cast iron products. The
furnace, which reorganized as
Richmond Iron Works in 1843, was a
major source of iron for the
production of Rodman guns during the
Civil War. Its iron also went into
the production of railroad car
wheels. Ancillary industries included
the mining and processing of
limestone, used in the blast process
as a flux to remove impurities, and
charcoal, produced from woodlands
within a 50-mile radius of the
furnace for fuel. Richmond Iron Works
also owned and operated furnaces in
VanDeusenville and Cheshire. The
growth of the iron industry had
considerable impact on Richmond's
otherwise agricultural economy,
according to the application.
"Spurred by the growth of the
RIW, Richmond's population rose to
1,152 by 1840. The earliest immigrant
furnace workers were Welsh, Scotch,
and English with experience in mining
and smelting iron. After the start of
the Irish potato famine in 1844,
inexperienced immigrant Irish workers
joined the forces at the RIW. Wages
at this time stood at $1.00 a
day...." The Furnace works was
self-sufficient. It had its own store
from the beginning. To house its
growing work force, the Iron Works
built tenements and single-family
dwellings. Workers grew crops and
tended their fields using draft
animals which also worked in the
mines during the week. The Furnace
had its own school. There was a post
office located at different times in
the iron works office and in a
residence. This section of town was
served by its own passenger and
freight railroad depot. It also had
its own cemetery (the earliest grave
dating from 1779). Mr. Edwards
stressed the Richmond Furnace
Historic District is archeological,
and privately owned, and should not
be dug for artifacts. He explained
there are no remains which would be
of interest to collectors. Historical
objects range from concrete pads and
below-ground piping to water-filled
pit mines and stone walls - their
original use interpreted by trained
professionals. Richly colored black,
green and purple slag, a byproduct of
the iron making process, was years
ago removed by another industry
Colonial Rock Wool of West
Stockbridge which converted it to
insulation.
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