The Boonton Iron Works were founded about 1770 by Samuel Ogden who, with others in his family, purchased a tract along the

Rockaway River The Rockaway River is a tributary of the Passaic River, approximately 35 mi (56 km) long, in Morris County, New Jersey in the United States. The upper course of the river flows through a wooded mountainous valley, whereas the lower co ...

, near present-day

Boonton, New Jersey Boonton () is a town in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 8,815, an increase of 468 (+5.6%) from the 2010 census count of 8,347, which in turn reflected a decline o ...

. Here

rolling Rolling is a Motion (physics)#Types of motion, type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an Axial symmetry, axially symmetric object) and Translation (geometry), translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the ot ...

and

slitting mill Slitting Mill is a small village on the outskirts of Rugeley, Staffordshire. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 265. The village is within Rugeley civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish use ...

s were erected that engaged in the manufacture of

nail Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal or human digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue a ...

rods and

bar iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

. With the construction of the

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a toll road, common carrier Anthracite, anthracite coal canal across North Jersey, northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals in Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its weste ...

in 1830, the New Jersey Iron Company was organized. This company built a new plant costing $283,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) and imported skilled mechanics from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Under Fuller & Lord (1852–1876) the enterprise become an integrated industry with

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

and timber reserves, canal boats, furnaces, mills and auxiliary plants. After 1881, the business slowly declined. The plant closed in 1911.

Historic district

The property was listed as the Boonton Ironworks Historic District on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on July 14, 2023, for its significance in engineering, industry, and transportation. The

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

located in Grace Lord Park in the town of Boonton includes 13

contributing sites In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

and 2 contributing structures. It includes the Arch Bridge from the Boonton Ironworks and sections of the

, previously listed on the NRHP. With accompanying 14 photos

References

Sources

James Truslow Adams James Truslow Adams (October 18, 1878 – May 18, 1949) was an American writer and historian. He was a freelance author who helped to popularize the latest scholarship about American history and his three-volume history of New England is well r ...

, ''Dictionary of American History'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940).

External links

*
Abandoned Iron Mines of the NJ Highlands
{{NRHP in Morris County, New Jersey Boonton, New Jersey Buildings and structures in Morris County, New Jersey Ironworks and steel mills in the United States Ruins in the United States Economic history of New Jersey Industrial buildings and structures in New Jersey Companies established in 1770 1770 establishments in New Jersey Pre-statehood history of New Jersey 1911 disestablishments in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Morris County, New Jersey Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places

Historic district

See also

References

Sources

External links