Lehigh Crane Iron Company
Encyclopedia
The Lehigh Crane Iron Company (often simply the Crane Iron Company) was a major ironmaking firm in the Lehigh Valley
from its founding in 1839 until its sale in 1899. It was founded under the patronage of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
, which hoped to promote the then-novel technique of smelting iron ore with anthracite coal
. The new company was named for George Crane, a British ironmaster whose superintendent, David Thomas
, was hired to come to America and set up an ironworks using the new technique.
The company put its first furnace into blast in 1840, and quickly gained a reputation for efficiency and ironmaking prowess among the many furnaces that now sprang up in the Lehigh Valley. Over the next several decades, Crane Iron developed an extensive portfolio of assets, buying mines in the Lehigh Valley and in northern New Jersey, and taking over many of the smaller iron furnaces in the region. Crane Iron also financed the building of railroads in the area to haul limestone
and iron ore to its furnaces.
As the merchant pig iron business began to decline, Crane Iron sold off much of its railroad interests in 1896. In an effort to revive Eastern iron mining in the face of competition from Minnesota
, Crane took part in Thomas Edison
's attempts to develop a magnetic ore beneficiation
process. However, Edison's experiments proved uneconomical and the Edison Ore-Milling Company
was a failure. In 1899, Crane Iron was sold to the Empire Steel and Iron Company, a conglomerate of Eastern and Southern iron furnaces. The Crane Works, as the company's plant was now known, last made iron in 1930, and the plant was torn down in 1932.
became the first ironworks in Britain to produce anthracite iron
in commercial quantities, by use of the hot blast
method. The works were owned by George Crane, and superintended by David Thomas
. This discovery promised to provide a large market for anthracite, and the managers of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company wished to duplicate the process in the United States. After negotiations with Crane and Thomas, they were able to hire Thomas to emigrate and manage their proposed ironworks. The company was named in honor of Crane: it was organized on April 23, 1839 and incorporated on May 16, 1839, under a general act of the Pennsylvania Legislature. The LC&N supported the new company by granting them land and rights to water power (from the LC&N's canal) for their furnace.
. The ovens for the hot blast were coal-fired, and the blowing engine was driven by a waterwheel tapping the canal at Lock 36. The furnace was blown in on July 3, 1840 and the first four tons of iron produced July 4, 1840. It remained in blast until flooded by a January freshet in 1841, producing 1,080 tons of iron during that period.
No. 2 Furnace was erected in 1842, using waste gas from the stack to heat the blast instead of coal-fired ovens. No. 3 was built in 1846, and Nos. 4 and 5 in 1849, as the iron business increased.
The limestone
flux
for the furnaces was largely shipped from local quarries. A mixture of about 75% limonite
and 25% magnetite
ore was used to supply the furnace. Most of the limonite was mined locally: the first batch of ore smelted at the furnace was supplied by Henry Hoch's mine (also referred to as Rice's mine) in Schoenersville
nearby, and the mine was an important supplier of the ironworks for years, being worked from 1840 to 1908. Some magnetite came from the Wieand mine (also referred to as the Mann mine) at Vera Cruz
, but it was principally shipped from the Irondale-area, Byram, and Dickerson Mines in New Jersey
. Anthracite came from the LC&N's mines, shipped by canal boat for many years, and later by rail.
. His son John Thomas succeeded him, and served until he, too, took over at Thomas Iron, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Joshua Hunt.
The success of Crane Iron and the many other iron companies that sprang up in the Lehigh Valley led to a major mining boom in Lehigh County
, with no less than 261 mines of varying size being opened. Some were worked by independent operators and the ore sold on the open market, others leased by iron companies, and some owned outright by the companies. In 1875, Crane Iron leased eleven limonite mines in Lehigh County, owned three outright and one jointly with Thomas Iron, and leased a hematite
mine at Zionsville
.
This was in part facilitated by improved transportation in the area. The Crane and Thomas Iron Companies wanted a railroad to bring local ore to their furnaces, but faced strong local opposition when attempting to gain a charter. As a compromise, the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Plank Road corporation was chartered on July 2, 1853, to build a plank road
from the ore pits to the furnaces. A short section of plank road was constructed, but the exceptional weight of the ore wagons quickly destroyed it. Renewed efforts to palliate the local farmers were successful, and the plank road was renamed and rechartered on April 20, 1854 as the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad
. The C&F began hauling ore from the mines near Fogelsville
in 1857. In 1864, it was further extended to a connection with the East Pennsylvania Railroad at Alburtis
and in 1865, to the magnetite mines at Rittenhouse Gap
. Improvements to the physical plant also occurred, building No. 6 stack in 1868. The company survived the Panic of 1873
and the subsequent poor iron market, and No. 5 stack was rebuilt in 1877, introducing new firebrick heat exchangers (stoves) to heat the blast, rather than the iron pipes heretofore used. No. 3 stack collapsed in 1879 while out of blast, and Nos. 1 and 2 were subsequently demolished. A new No. 1 and 3 were built, and the site of No. 2 used for stoves for the new furnaces, which were built in 1880 and put in service in 1881. Joshua Hunt resigned the superintendency on January 1, 1882, six months before the death of his father-in-law, David Thomas.
By this time, the iron furnaces also boasted a substantial plant railroad, having constructed a private wagon and rail bridge (which they opened to the public) across the Lehigh River
in 1847 to facilitate ore shipment, which would connect with the Lehigh Valley Railroad
line in West Catasauqua
in 1855, as well as the C&F when that line opened. (The Central Railroad of New Jersey
would build a line along the Lehigh River in 1867 on the same side as the furnaces, giving Crane Iron yet another rail inlet and outlet.) The company received a supplement to its charter on March 15, 1872 (and was renamed simply the Crane Iron Company), allowing it to construct up to 2 miles (3.2 km) of rail line to dispose of slag or connect with another railroad. The plant trackage ultimately totaled 3.31 miles (5.3 km), and was worked by a number of 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 switchers, including one built on-site at the ironworks in the 1880s.
, who was attempting to rejuvenate the then-moribund Eastern magnetite mines by magnetic beneficiation
. Initial attempts were frustrated by the dusty nature of the finely-ground ore (which made it susceptible to losses both in transit and during the furnace blast), and the process ultimately proved uneconomical in competition with cheap Mesabi Range
ores, which came to replace locally-mined ore. In 1899, the company was sold to the Empire Steel and Iron Company and became their Crane Works. The works was gradually dismantled, last making iron in 1930. It was scrapped in 1932.
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
from its founding in 1839 until its sale in 1899. It was founded under the patronage of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company is an anthracite coal mining company headquartered in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., with operations in the areas of Tamaqua, Coaldale, and Lansford...
, which hoped to promote the then-novel technique of smelting iron ore with anthracite coal
Anthracite coal
Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster...
. The new company was named for George Crane, a British ironmaster whose superintendent, David Thomas
David Thomas (industrialist)
David Thomas was a native of Wales who was influential in the birth of the Industrial Revolution in the US.-Development of the hot blast:David Thomas was born in Cadoxton, near Neath...
, was hired to come to America and set up an ironworks using the new technique.
The company put its first furnace into blast in 1840, and quickly gained a reputation for efficiency and ironmaking prowess among the many furnaces that now sprang up in the Lehigh Valley. Over the next several decades, Crane Iron developed an extensive portfolio of assets, buying mines in the Lehigh Valley and in northern New Jersey, and taking over many of the smaller iron furnaces in the region. Crane Iron also financed the building of railroads in the area to haul limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and iron ore to its furnaces.
As the merchant pig iron business began to decline, Crane Iron sold off much of its railroad interests in 1896. In an effort to revive Eastern iron mining in the face of competition from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Crane took part in Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
's attempts to develop a magnetic ore beneficiation
Beneficiation
In mining, beneficiation is a variety of processes whereby extracted ore from mining is separated into mineral and gangue, the former suitable for further processing or direct use....
process. However, Edison's experiments proved uneconomical and the Edison Ore-Milling Company
Edison Ore-Milling Company
The Edison Ore-Milling Company was a venture by Thomas Edison that began in 1881. Edison introduced some significant technological developments to the iron ore milling industry but the company ultimately proved to be unprofitable...
was a failure. In 1899, Crane Iron was sold to the Empire Steel and Iron Company, a conglomerate of Eastern and Southern iron furnaces. The Crane Works, as the company's plant was now known, last made iron in 1930, and the plant was torn down in 1932.
Origins
In 1837, the Yniscedwyn Works in WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
became the first ironworks in Britain to produce anthracite iron
Anthracite iron
Anthracite iron is the substance created by the smelting together of anthracite coal and iron ore.-Development of the process:Research into the smelting of iron using anthracite coal began in the 1820s...
in commercial quantities, by use of the hot blast
Hot blast
Hot blast refers to the preheating of air blown into a blast furnace or other metallurgical process. This has the result of considerably reducing the fuel consumed in the process...
method. The works were owned by George Crane, and superintended by David Thomas
David Thomas (industrialist)
David Thomas was a native of Wales who was influential in the birth of the Industrial Revolution in the US.-Development of the hot blast:David Thomas was born in Cadoxton, near Neath...
. This discovery promised to provide a large market for anthracite, and the managers of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company wished to duplicate the process in the United States. After negotiations with Crane and Thomas, they were able to hire Thomas to emigrate and manage their proposed ironworks. The company was named in honor of Crane: it was organized on April 23, 1839 and incorporated on May 16, 1839, under a general act of the Pennsylvania Legislature. The LC&N supported the new company by granting them land and rights to water power (from the LC&N's canal) for their furnace.
Early years
Construction of the first furnace commenced about August 1, 1839, at Biery's Port, later CatasauquaCatasauqua, Pennsylvania
Catasauqua is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, settled in 1805 and chartered as a borough in 1853. Catasauqua is a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of the state....
. The ovens for the hot blast were coal-fired, and the blowing engine was driven by a waterwheel tapping the canal at Lock 36. The furnace was blown in on July 3, 1840 and the first four tons of iron produced July 4, 1840. It remained in blast until flooded by a January freshet in 1841, producing 1,080 tons of iron during that period.
No. 2 Furnace was erected in 1842, using waste gas from the stack to heat the blast instead of coal-fired ovens. No. 3 was built in 1846, and Nos. 4 and 5 in 1849, as the iron business increased.
The limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
flux
Flux (metallurgy)
In metallurgy, a flux , is a chemical cleaning agent, flowing agent, or purifying agent. Fluxes may have more than one function at a time...
for the furnaces was largely shipped from local quarries. A mixture of about 75% limonite
Limonite
Limonite is an ore consisting in a mixture of hydrated iron oxide-hydroxide of varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO·nH2O, although this is not entirely accurate as limonite often contains a varying amount of oxide compared to hydroxide.Together with hematite, it has...
and 25% magnetite
Magnetite
Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...
ore was used to supply the furnace. Most of the limonite was mined locally: the first batch of ore smelted at the furnace was supplied by Henry Hoch's mine (also referred to as Rice's mine) in Schoenersville
Schoenersville, Pennsylvania
Schoenersville, Pennsylvania is a suburban village located in Hanover Township, Lehigh County and Hanover Township, Northampton County. It is pronounced "SHAY-nerz-vil." NW-to-SE Schoenersville Road serves as the county line, coming up from Bethlehem and meeting NE-to-SW Airport Road in the...
nearby, and the mine was an important supplier of the ironworks for years, being worked from 1840 to 1908. Some magnetite came from the Wieand mine (also referred to as the Mann mine) at Vera Cruz
Vera Cruz, Pennsylvania
Vera Cruz is a small village in Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania to the south of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, in the United States. It uses the Emmaus zip code of 18049.-Early jasper mines:...
, but it was principally shipped from the Irondale-area, Byram, and Dickerson Mines in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Anthracite came from the LC&N's mines, shipped by canal boat for many years, and later by rail.
Expansion
In 1855, David Thomas left his post as superintendent of the Crane Iron Company to oversee the new Thomas Iron CompanyThomas Iron Company
The Thomas Iron Company was a major iron-making firm in the Lehigh Valley from its organization in 1854 until its decline and eventual dismantling in the early 20th century. The firm was named in honor of its founder, David Thomas, who had emigrated to the United States in 1839 to introduce hot...
. His son John Thomas succeeded him, and served until he, too, took over at Thomas Iron, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Joshua Hunt.
The success of Crane Iron and the many other iron companies that sprang up in the Lehigh Valley led to a major mining boom in Lehigh County
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
-Climate:Most of the county's climate is considered to fall in the humid continental climate zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Precipitation is almost uniformly distributed throughout the year....
, with no less than 261 mines of varying size being opened. Some were worked by independent operators and the ore sold on the open market, others leased by iron companies, and some owned outright by the companies. In 1875, Crane Iron leased eleven limonite mines in Lehigh County, owned three outright and one jointly with Thomas Iron, and leased a hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
mine at Zionsville
Zionsville, Pennsylvania
Zionsville is a village mostly in Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County, and also in Lower Milford Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its zip code is 18092. The West Branch Hosensack Creek forms its natural SE boundary and drains it via the Hosensack Creek to the Perkiomen Creek...
.
This was in part facilitated by improved transportation in the area. The Crane and Thomas Iron Companies wanted a railroad to bring local ore to their furnaces, but faced strong local opposition when attempting to gain a charter. As a compromise, the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Plank Road corporation was chartered on July 2, 1853, to build a plank road
Plank road
A plank road or puncheon is a dirt path or road covered with a series of planks, similar to the wooden sidewalks one would see in a Western movie. Plank roads were very popular in Ontario, the U.S. Northeast and U.S. Midwest in the first half of the 19th century...
from the ore pits to the furnaces. A short section of plank road was constructed, but the exceptional weight of the ore wagons quickly destroyed it. Renewed efforts to palliate the local farmers were successful, and the plank road was renamed and rechartered on April 20, 1854 as the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad
Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad
The Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad was built in the 1850s to transport iron ore from local mines in Lehigh and later Berks County to furnaces along the Lehigh River...
. The C&F began hauling ore from the mines near Fogelsville
Fogelsville, Pennsylvania
Fogelsville is a village in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is a suburb of Allentown, in Upper Macungie Township, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state....
in 1857. In 1864, it was further extended to a connection with the East Pennsylvania Railroad at Alburtis
Alburtis, Pennsylvania
Alburtis is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.The population of Alburtis was 2,117 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
and in 1865, to the magnetite mines at Rittenhouse Gap
Rittenhouse Gap, Pennsylvania
Rittenhouse Gap is the name of a village in Longswamp Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, at .The gap which gives the town its name lies between the headwaters of Swabia Creek, in the Lehigh River watershed, and an unnamed tributary of the Perkiomen Creek, in the Schuylkill River watershed...
. Improvements to the physical plant also occurred, building No. 6 stack in 1868. The company survived the Panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
and the subsequent poor iron market, and No. 5 stack was rebuilt in 1877, introducing new firebrick heat exchangers (stoves) to heat the blast, rather than the iron pipes heretofore used. No. 3 stack collapsed in 1879 while out of blast, and Nos. 1 and 2 were subsequently demolished. A new No. 1 and 3 were built, and the site of No. 2 used for stoves for the new furnaces, which were built in 1880 and put in service in 1881. Joshua Hunt resigned the superintendency on January 1, 1882, six months before the death of his father-in-law, David Thomas.
By this time, the iron furnaces also boasted a substantial plant railroad, having constructed a private wagon and rail bridge (which they opened to the public) across the Lehigh River
Lehigh River
The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, is a river located in eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. Part of the Lehigh, along with a number of its tributaries, is designated a Pennsylvania Scenic River by the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources...
in 1847 to facilitate ore shipment, which would connect with the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
line in West Catasauqua
West Catasauqua, Pennsylvania
West Catasauqua is a village within Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania and is colloquially known as "West Catty" by local residents. It uses the Whitehall zip code of 18052.-Geography:...
in 1855, as well as the C&F when that line opened. (The Central Railroad of New Jersey
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
would build a line along the Lehigh River in 1867 on the same side as the furnaces, giving Crane Iron yet another rail inlet and outlet.) The company received a supplement to its charter on March 15, 1872 (and was renamed simply the Crane Iron Company), allowing it to construct up to 2 miles (3.2 km) of rail line to dispose of slag or connect with another railroad. The plant trackage ultimately totaled 3.31 miles (5.3 km), and was worked by a number of 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 switchers, including one built on-site at the ironworks in the 1880s.
End of independence
In 1889, No. 3 stack was raised, and No. 4 went out of service in July 1890. The Crane and Thomas Iron companies leased the C&F to the Reading Railroad on December 8, 1893, and Crane Iron sold off its share to the Reading entirely from June 5, 1896, leaving the line-haul railroad business. During the 1890s, Crane Iron also participated in the experiments of Thomas EdisonThomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
, who was attempting to rejuvenate the then-moribund Eastern magnetite mines by magnetic beneficiation
Beneficiation
In mining, beneficiation is a variety of processes whereby extracted ore from mining is separated into mineral and gangue, the former suitable for further processing or direct use....
. Initial attempts were frustrated by the dusty nature of the finely-ground ore (which made it susceptible to losses both in transit and during the furnace blast), and the process ultimately proved uneconomical in competition with cheap Mesabi Range
Mesabi Range
The Mesabi Iron Range is a vast deposit of iron ore and the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota. Discovered in 1866, it is the chief deposit of iron ore in the United States. The deposit is located in northeast Minnesota, largely in...
ores, which came to replace locally-mined ore. In 1899, the company was sold to the Empire Steel and Iron Company and became their Crane Works. The works was gradually dismantled, last making iron in 1930. It was scrapped in 1932.