Oregon Iron Company Furnace
The Oregon Iron Company was an iron foundry in the area that is now Lake Oswego , Oregon . Founded in 1865, it became the first company to cast iron in the United States west of the Rockies in 1867 . The company went bankrupt after a few years, but was re-established in 1878 as the Oswego Iron Company and in 1883 as the Oregon Iron and Steel Company . This last start-up also brought about a profitable company with a larger blast furnace , which reached the peak of production in 1890. The pressure from cheaper imported iron and the late effects of the panic of 1893 meant that the company had to close its blast furnaces in 1894. A pipe foundry was operated until 1928. The company existed as a land management company until the early 1960s.
Beginnings
The 1862 discovery of iron ore near the settlement of Oswego in the mountains south of Portland is attributed to Morton M. McCarver, spokesman for the Provisional Legislature of Oregon . McCarver's brown iron ore was found to have a metal content of 56-75%, making it an excellent ore. In addition, the ore was near the surface and the amount was estimated at 60,000 American tons (approximately 54,000 metric tons ). Since the deposit was also surrounded by extensive forests that could be used to produce charcoal to fire furnaces and water power was available, the potential for a successful mining company was recognized .
A group of financiers, including former Portland Mayors, William S. Ladd and Henry Failing, and Portland Gas Light Company founders Herman C. Leonard and John Green, founded the iron making company they named the Oregon Iron Company in 1865. Ladd, who acted as president of the company and the others hoped to make Oswego the “ Pittsburgh of the West”. They believed that the local presence of iron would be conducive to their other endeavors, including the Oregon Central Railroad and the Oregon Steam Navigation Company .
construction
To oversee the construction of the charcoal-fired furnace , the company hired George Wilbur, who had built the Lime Rock Furnace in Lime Rock, Connecticut . The furnace was built by the British stonemason Richard Martin and completed in 1867. In the meantime, a dam had also been built on Sucker Creek to generate hydropower, and forests were felled so that charcoal could be used to fire the stove. Limestone used in smelting to remove impurities was quarried in the San Juan Islands in the Washington Territory and shipped by ship to the company's loading facilities on the Willamette River .
On August 24, 1867, the Oregon Iron Company became the first company in the United States to cast pig iron west of the Rocky Mountains . The first pig iron was given to JC Trullinger, who owned the land on which Oswego was located. Between 1867 and 1869, the company produced nearly 2,400 American tons (around 2,200 metric tons) of iron.
Ladd's group soon found that their expertise from other areas of their economic activities did not apply to iron production. A lack of experience in the industry and a dispute over water rights led the company to close in 1869. A resurgence between 1874 and 1876, when the company won an order from the Central Pacific Railroad to supply wheels, was short-lived; In 1878 the company closed for good and the property was auctioned off by the sheriff .
Oswego Iron Company
The buyers were led by Ernest Crichton and LB Seeley that as a manager in Ohio Hanging Rock region gained experience in working iron hatten.iron region. Under the new name Oswego Iron Company , the company achieved a number of improvements, including the purchase of the urban area with vast forests about the settlement of the problems with the water rights, the renewal of the furnace, the opening of several new mines and the construction of a narrow-gauge railway to bring the iron ore. Between 1877 and 1881, the Oswego Iron Company produced 18,500 American tons of iron (around 16,800 metric tons).
However, this company was also in great debt and when the market price for iron remained low, the company was sold to another group of Portland investors in 1880, led by Simeon Gannett Reed and railroad mogul Henry Villard .
Oregon Iron and Steel Company
The company was re-established in 1882 as the Oregon Iron and Steel Company, with Reed as President and William M. Ladd , son of Oregon Iron Company founder William S. Ladd, as Vice President. Reed borrowed money from Villard and had a new blast furnace built north of the original one with a capacity five times the original blast furnace. The new ironworks opened in 1888 and production was booming. The company employed three hundred people and Oswego's population increased as hotels, churches, saloons, and an opera house were built. A railroad to Portland was completed in 1886, making Oswego easier to reach.
The company reached its largest production volume in 1890 when 12,305 American tons (approximately 11,160 metric tons ) of iron were cast. However, half of the company's resources were used to extract the charcoal needed to produce it. The availability of cheaper imported iron made from coke , the general decline in demand for iron due to the slowdown in railroad expansion, and the economic impact of the panic of 1893 accelerated the closure of the furnace in 1894. The company continued to operate until 1928 a pipe foundry there.
Land development
Despite the discontinuation of its production, the company continued to exist, with thousands of acres of land that could be developed. William M. Ladd, who reed as president of Oregon Iron and Steel and his father as president of Ladd & Tilton Bank, founded the Ladd Estate Company to manage and dispose of these properties. Under this new real estate venture, the dilapidated factory estate was transformed into a posh suburb with a country club , golf course and polo field, and it was possible to change the bad-sounding name of the lake from Sucker Lake to Oswego Lake .
The company existed as a shell until 1960, when the power plant and the dams were transferred to the shareholders.
Remnants of the infrastructure
The original blast furnace still stands in Lake Oswegos George Rogers Park on the Willamette River. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and plans to preserve and restore it for public viewing are in progress.
One of the first two pieces of pig iron produced, dating from 1867, is on display by the Oregon Historical Society ; the second is still in its place as a road marker on the northwest corner of Ladd and Durham Streets in Lake Oswego.
The crucible of the second furnace, which was dismantled and sold for scrapping in 1926, is still intact and is located in Lake Oswegos Roehr Park.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Herbert O. Lang: History of the Willamette Valley . GH Himes, Portland, Oregon 1885, pp. 540-541 (accessed May 1, 2009).
- ^ A b c Hubert Howe Bancroft: History of Oregon: 1848-1888 ( English ). The History Company, San Francisco 1888, p. 733 (Retrieved May 5, 2009).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Susanna Campbell Kuo: A Brief History of the Oregon Iron Industry ( English , PDF; 1.5 MB) Oswego Heritage Council. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ↑ Northwest Natural 2008 Integrated Resource Plan ( English ) Northwest Natural Gas Company . S. April 2, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Mary Goodall: Oregon's Iron Dream ( English ). Binsford & Mort, Portland, Oregon 1958, p. 43.
- ^ A b c City of Lake Oswego Cultural Resources Inventory Field Form ( English ) City of Lake Oswego, Oregon. June 1989. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ↑ a b Trullinger Marker ( English ) Oswego Heritage Council. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ Oregon Iron Company Furnace ( English ) Waymarking.com. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ↑ a b A Brief History ( English ) City of Lake Oswego. Archived from the original on April 1, 2008. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ↑ Portland Banks ( English ) PDXHistory.com. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ Recommendations for Restoring the Oswego Furnace ( English ) City of Lake Oswego, Oregon. April 2008. Accessed on May 5, 2009. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Oregon National Register List ( English , PDF; 346 kB) State of Oregon. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ The Iron Furnace ( English ) Oswego Heritage Council. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
Web links
- National Register of Historic Places (English)
- Oregon Iron & Steel Company in the Oregon Encyclopedia (English)
Coordinates: 45 ° 24 ′ 39.5 " N , 122 ° 39 ′ 38.5" W.