Thomas Iron Company
Encyclopedia
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 blast
iron making in the Lehigh Valley, and now embarked on an independent ironmaking venture. The company's main and original plant was in Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania
, which grew up around it; it also came to own blast furnace
s and railroads elsewhere in the Lehigh Valley and mines in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Changes in the iron industry in the early Twentieth Century left Thomas Iron struggling to compete, and after a failed attempt at modernization and revival from 1913 to 1916, the company's assets were sold and largely dismantled during the 1920s.
, a Welsh ironmaster, had been brought to America in 1839 to introduce the hot blast
manufacture of anthracite iron
by the Lehigh Crane Iron Company
. Thomas projected his own company, which was organized on February 14, 1854 and chartered on April 4, 1854; it was named in his honor. Thomas left his post as superintendent at Lehigh Crane and was replaced by his son David, Jr. He became trustee of real estate, while his son Samuel was appointed superintendent.
Samuel Thomas had worked for his father at Lehigh Crane since 1843, and had also supervised the construction and blowing-in of a furnace at the Boonton Iron Works in Boonton, New Jersey
in 1848. Under his direction, the new company built two furnaces on the Butz farm along the Lehigh River
, establishing a community that would become Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania
. Furnace No. 1 was put in blast on June 3, 1855, and Furnace No. 2 on October 27, 1855.
Some ore was supplied from local limonite
deposits: in 1875, Thomas Iron owned four of these mines and held a fifth jointly with Crane Iron, leased eight and had worked another for two years. The company joined with Crane Iron, which had chartered the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad
in 1854, to begin construction in 1856. The rail line reduced difficult and inefficient wagon haulage to supply local ore to both companies. Thomas Iron also bought the Richard Mine near Mount Hope, New Jersey
in 1856, which supplied large quantities of magnetite
ore. Some magnetite was also obtained from mines at Rittenhouse Gap
, at the south end of the Catasauqua and Fogelsville.
The Hokendauqua site had its own plant railroad, constructed in the 1860s, which included a line of about a mile and a half to connect with the Ironton Railroad
at West Coplay. The mines served by this railroad at Ironton were mostly operated by Thomas Iron. The plant railroad also connected with the Catasauqua and Fogelsville and the Lehigh Valley Railroad
at West Catasauqua
, allowing it to receive ore and ship iron.
in 1867. The first furnace was placed in blast on March 18, 1868. Lock Ridge Iron was bought by Thomas Iron on May 1, 1869, and the second furnace placed in blast on July 9, 1869. This facility had its own small plant railroad, which connected with the East Pennsylvania Railroad (later the Reading) and the Catasauqua and Fogelsville. Two more furnaces were built at Hokendauqua after the Civil War
, No. 5 blown in on September 15, 1873 and No. 6 on January 19, 1874. The two Lock Ridge furnaces were later renumbered No. 7 and No. 8.
After 1874, the company did not add any further furnaces at Hokendauqua. However, it purchased the Keystone Furnace from D. Runkle Company in early 1882 and the Saucon Iron Company in Hellertown, Pennsylvania
on December 13, 1884, renaming its two furnaces No. 10 and No. 11. It leased the Lucy Furnace from 1886 to 1887.
In 1881, a cinder notch was added to No. 8 furnace at Lock Ridge, an innovation which allowed removal of slag from the furnace during the blast. The operators initially struggled with fine-dirt problems after the change, and it was only eliminated when the furnace burnt out part of the lining. The furnace was re-lined to the new geometry and found to be much more efficient, and No. 7 and No. 2 furnaces were remodeled in the same fashion at the end of 1881. The other furnaces of the company were remodeled as they came out of blast. In 1882, Thomas Iron took over the Ironton Railroad.
During the 1890s, as the local limonite industry declined and railroad transportation improved, Thomas Iron switched from using local ore to hematite
from Michigan or overseas. However, they continued to use New Jersey magnetite. By 1891, the company's Richard Mine was the largest producer of ore in New Jersey. The declining importance of local ore also prompted Crane and Thomas to divest themselves of the Catasauqua and Fogelsville: 60% of the stock in the railroad was sold to the Reading in 1890, which leased it in 1893.
1891 also marked the beginning of another round of upgrades, adding Durham-style regenerative-heating stoves to No. 6 and No. 7 stacks. In 1893, No. 1 and No. 2 stacks were abandoned: No. 1 was demolished and rebuilt with the new stoves, which were also added to No. 10 and No. 11 furnaces (former Saucon Iron). 1893 also marked the accession of Benjamin Franklin Fackenthal, Jr., as president of the company: he would oversee the last halcyon period in the history of Thomas Iron.
Modernization continued, No. 3 stack being rebuilt in 1897 and No. 5 abandoned. New Taws & Hartman stoves were fitted to No. 1 in 1898, and No. 3 in 1899. No. 4 was abandoned in 1902. The company began to reorganize its railroad interests, incorporating the line from West Catasauqua to Coplay as the Thomas Railroad on December 21, 1906. The line was leased to the connecting Ironton Railroad on January 1, 1908. Old stack No. 8, at Alburtis, was fitted with a Durham-style stove in 1910.
had largely replaced anthracite as the principal furnace fuel. No. 7 and 8 stacks at Alburtis were reputedly the last furnaces in the country to use anthracite, converting to coke in 1914. The shift away from local ores and fuels eliminated much of the original competitive advantage of the Lehigh Valley furnaces.
Against this backdrop, President Fackenthal resigned on May 1, 1913, after recommending a program of retrenchment and abandonment of the old furnaces at Alburtis. His successor, chosen on July 1, 1913, was Ralph H. Sweetser, who held largely opposite views. Sweetser modernized not only No. 1 and No. 3 stacks at Hokendauqua, but the old No. 7 stack at Alburtis. He also attempted to restart local limonite mining, an effort which proved a costly failure. By 1915, No. 6 stack at Hokendauqua had been abandoned (leaving only No. 1 and No. 3 in operation there). The limestone
flux
for the furnaces, until now obtained from local dolomitic
limestone quarries, was now replaced by high-calcium lime from Annville, Pennsylvania
, eliminating the last local source of raw materials.
Sweetser left the presidency on July 1, 1916, and was succeeded by William A. Barrows, Jr., but the company was now in terminal decline. Keystone Furnace was sold off to the Northern Ore Company on June 28, 1917. On December 4, 1917, the Thomas Railroad was merged into the Ironton, which by this time primarily carried cement
instead of iron ore. In 1918, the No. 11 stack (former Saucon Iron) was rebuilt, but No. 10 was abandoned.
Dismantling of the company now began in earnest: the last iron was made at Alburtis in 1921, at which time Hokendauqua was also out of blast. No. 11 at Hellertown produced a small quantity. On June 30, 1922, the company's stock was sold to Drexel & Company, which disposed of its assets over the next few years. Railroad stocks were sold to the Reading, Lehigh Valley, and Central Railroad of New Jersey, the first two becoming joint owners of the Ironton Railroad. The furnaces and other assets, including the Richard Mine, were sold to the Reading Coal and Iron Company, which sold the Alburtis and Hellertown plants for scrap. No. 1 stack was quickly abandoned in 1924, leaving only No. 3, renamed "Mary Furnace" in operation at Hokendauqua. It, too, was abandoned in 1927, and the Hokendauqua plant was sold to Bethlehem Steel
, which scrapped it in 1936. The company surrendered its charter in June 1942.
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 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
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...
, who had emigrated to the United States in 1839 to introduce 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...
iron making in the Lehigh Valley, and now embarked on an independent ironmaking venture. The company's main and original plant was in Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania
Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania
Hokendauqua is a census-designated place in Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Hokendauqua is a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. It uses the Whitehall zip code of 18052. The population of Hokendauqua was 3,411 at the...
, which grew up around it; it also came to own blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
s and railroads elsewhere in the Lehigh Valley and mines in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Changes in the iron industry in the early Twentieth Century left Thomas Iron struggling to compete, and after a failed attempt at modernization and revival from 1913 to 1916, the company's assets were sold and largely dismantled during the 1920s.
Origins
David ThomasDavid 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...
, a Welsh ironmaster, had been brought to America in 1839 to introduce 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...
manufacture of 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...
by the Lehigh Crane Iron Company
Lehigh Crane Iron Company
The Lehigh 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...
. Thomas projected his own company, which was organized on February 14, 1854 and chartered on April 4, 1854; it was named in his honor. Thomas left his post as superintendent at Lehigh Crane and was replaced by his son David, Jr. He became trustee of real estate, while his son Samuel was appointed superintendent.
Samuel Thomas had worked for his father at Lehigh Crane since 1843, and had also supervised the construction and blowing-in of a furnace at the Boonton Iron Works in Boonton, New Jersey
Boonton, New Jersey
Boonton is a town in Morris County, New Jersey that was chartered in 1867. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 8,347. The town was originally called "Boone-Towne" in 1761 in honor of the Colonial Governor Thomas Boone....
in 1848. Under his direction, the new company built two furnaces on the Butz farm along 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...
, establishing a community that would become Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania
Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania
Hokendauqua is a census-designated place in Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Hokendauqua is a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. It uses the Whitehall zip code of 18052. The population of Hokendauqua was 3,411 at the...
. Furnace No. 1 was put in blast on June 3, 1855, and Furnace No. 2 on October 27, 1855.
Some ore was supplied from local 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...
deposits: in 1875, Thomas Iron owned four of these mines and held a fifth jointly with Crane Iron, leased eight and had worked another for two years. The company joined with Crane Iron, which had chartered 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...
in 1854, to begin construction in 1856. The rail line reduced difficult and inefficient wagon haulage to supply local ore to both companies. Thomas Iron also bought the Richard Mine near Mount Hope, New Jersey
Mount Hope, New Jersey
Mount Hope is a section of Rockaway Township, New Jersey.It was formerly an unincorporated iron mining village associated with the American Revolutionary War. Mining operations were said to have begun around 1710 and operated continuously through the 1970s...
in 1856, which supplied large quantities of 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. Some magnetite was also obtained from 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...
, at the south end of the Catasauqua and Fogelsville.
The Hokendauqua site had its own plant railroad, constructed in the 1860s, which included a line of about a mile and a half to connect with the Ironton Railroad
Ironton Railroad
The Ironton Railroad was a shortline railroad in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Originally built in 1861 to haul iron ore and limestone to blast furnaces along the Lehigh River, traffic later shifted to carrying Portland cement when local iron mining declined in the early 20th century...
at West Coplay. The mines served by this railroad at Ironton were mostly operated by Thomas Iron. The plant railroad also connected with the Catasauqua and Fogelsville and 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...
at 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:...
, allowing it to receive ore and ship iron.
Exemplar of industry
Under the leadership of the Thomases, father and son, Thomas Iron produced record quantities of iron, and was looked upon as an exemplar of the iron industry. New furnaces were built at Hokendauqua: No. 3 was blown in on July 18, 1862 and No. 4 on April 29, 1863. On December 26, 1866, Samuel Thomas and other officials of Thomas Iron chartered the Lock Ridge Iron Company, which began building two furnaces at AlburtisAlburtis, 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:...
in 1867. The first furnace was placed in blast on March 18, 1868. Lock Ridge Iron was bought by Thomas Iron on May 1, 1869, and the second furnace placed in blast on July 9, 1869. This facility had its own small plant railroad, which connected with the East Pennsylvania Railroad (later the Reading) and the Catasauqua and Fogelsville. Two more furnaces were built at Hokendauqua after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, No. 5 blown in on September 15, 1873 and No. 6 on January 19, 1874. The two Lock Ridge furnaces were later renumbered No. 7 and No. 8.
After 1874, the company did not add any further furnaces at Hokendauqua. However, it purchased the Keystone Furnace from D. Runkle Company in early 1882 and the Saucon Iron Company in Hellertown, Pennsylvania
Hellertown, Pennsylvania
Hellertown is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Hellertown is located in the Lehigh Valley region of the state, and geographically in the Saucon Valley.The population of Hellertown was 5,606 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
on December 13, 1884, renaming its two furnaces No. 10 and No. 11. It leased the Lucy Furnace from 1886 to 1887.
In 1881, a cinder notch was added to No. 8 furnace at Lock Ridge, an innovation which allowed removal of slag from the furnace during the blast. The operators initially struggled with fine-dirt problems after the change, and it was only eliminated when the furnace burnt out part of the lining. The furnace was re-lined to the new geometry and found to be much more efficient, and No. 7 and No. 2 furnaces were remodeled in the same fashion at the end of 1881. The other furnaces of the company were remodeled as they came out of blast. In 1882, Thomas Iron took over the Ironton Railroad.
During the 1890s, as the local limonite industry declined and railroad transportation improved, Thomas Iron switched from using local ore to 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...
from Michigan or overseas. However, they continued to use New Jersey magnetite. By 1891, the company's Richard Mine was the largest producer of ore in New Jersey. The declining importance of local ore also prompted Crane and Thomas to divest themselves of the Catasauqua and Fogelsville: 60% of the stock in the railroad was sold to the Reading in 1890, which leased it in 1893.
1891 also marked the beginning of another round of upgrades, adding Durham-style regenerative-heating stoves to No. 6 and No. 7 stacks. In 1893, No. 1 and No. 2 stacks were abandoned: No. 1 was demolished and rebuilt with the new stoves, which were also added to No. 10 and No. 11 furnaces (former Saucon Iron). 1893 also marked the accession of Benjamin Franklin Fackenthal, Jr., as president of the company: he would oversee the last halcyon period in the history of Thomas Iron.
Modernization continued, No. 3 stack being rebuilt in 1897 and No. 5 abandoned. New Taws & Hartman stoves were fitted to No. 1 in 1898, and No. 3 in 1899. No. 4 was abandoned in 1902. The company began to reorganize its railroad interests, incorporating the line from West Catasauqua to Coplay as the Thomas Railroad on December 21, 1906. The line was leased to the connecting Ironton Railroad on January 1, 1908. Old stack No. 8, at Alburtis, was fitted with a Durham-style stove in 1910.
Decline
By the beginning of the 20th century, many changes had come to the iron industry. In addition to the shift from local to foreign ores, cokeCoke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
had largely replaced anthracite as the principal furnace fuel. No. 7 and 8 stacks at Alburtis were reputedly the last furnaces in the country to use anthracite, converting to coke in 1914. The shift away from local ores and fuels eliminated much of the original competitive advantage of the Lehigh Valley furnaces.
Against this backdrop, President Fackenthal resigned on May 1, 1913, after recommending a program of retrenchment and abandonment of the old furnaces at Alburtis. His successor, chosen on July 1, 1913, was Ralph H. Sweetser, who held largely opposite views. Sweetser modernized not only No. 1 and No. 3 stacks at Hokendauqua, but the old No. 7 stack at Alburtis. He also attempted to restart local limonite mining, an effort which proved a costly failure. By 1915, No. 6 stack at Hokendauqua had been abandoned (leaving only No. 1 and No. 3 in operation there). 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, until now obtained from local dolomitic
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
limestone quarries, was now replaced by high-calcium lime from Annville, Pennsylvania
Annville, Pennsylvania
Annville Township is a township and census-designated place in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,518 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Annville Township is located at ....
, eliminating the last local source of raw materials.
Sweetser left the presidency on July 1, 1916, and was succeeded by William A. Barrows, Jr., but the company was now in terminal decline. Keystone Furnace was sold off to the Northern Ore Company on June 28, 1917. On December 4, 1917, the Thomas Railroad was merged into the Ironton, which by this time primarily carried cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
instead of iron ore. In 1918, the No. 11 stack (former Saucon Iron) was rebuilt, but No. 10 was abandoned.
Dismantling of the company now began in earnest: the last iron was made at Alburtis in 1921, at which time Hokendauqua was also out of blast. No. 11 at Hellertown produced a small quantity. On June 30, 1922, the company's stock was sold to Drexel & Company, which disposed of its assets over the next few years. Railroad stocks were sold to the Reading, Lehigh Valley, and Central Railroad of New Jersey, the first two becoming joint owners of the Ironton Railroad. The furnaces and other assets, including the Richard Mine, were sold to the Reading Coal and Iron Company, which sold the Alburtis and Hellertown plants for scrap. No. 1 stack was quickly abandoned in 1924, leaving only No. 3, renamed "Mary Furnace" in operation at Hokendauqua. It, too, was abandoned in 1927, and the Hokendauqua plant was sold to Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
, which scrapped it in 1936. The company surrendered its charter in June 1942.