Oregon Iron Company
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The Oregon Iron Company was an
iron smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zinc ...
company located in what is now
Lake Oswego, Oregon Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Population in 2020 was 40,731, an 11.2% increase since 2010, making it the ...
. The company was established in 1865, and in 1867, became the first company west of the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
in the United States to smelt iron. The company failed after a few years, but was reorganized as the Oswego Iron Company in 1878, and again as the Oregon Iron and Steel Company in 1883. With the addition of a larger furnace, the last incarnation of the company prospered, reaching peak production in 1890. By 1894, however, pressure from cheaper imported iron combined with the effects of the
Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...
forced the company to close its smelter. The company continued to operate a pipe foundry until 1928, and until the early 1960s, existed as a land management company, selling its real estate holdings which expanded the city of Lake Oswego.


Early history

The discovery of iron ore near the settlement of Oswego in the hills south of
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
is credited to Morton M. McCarver (who had served as speaker of the
Provisional Legislature of Oregon The Provisional Legislature of Oregon was the Unicameralism, single-chamber legislative body of the Provisional Government of Oregon. It served the Oregon Country of the Pacific Northwest of North America from 1843 until early 1849 at a time whe ...
) in 1862. McCarver's brown hematite ore was tested and found to be of excellent quality, containing from 56 to 75% metal. In addition, the ore lay near the surface and the Oswego bed was estimated to contain of ore. Since the site also featured vast forests that could be turned into
charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...
to feed the smelting furnaces, and ready access to water for power, the potential of a successful mining operation was easily recognized. In 1865, a group of financiers in Portland, which included former Portland mayors William S. Ladd and
Henry Failing Henry Failing (January 17, 1834 – November 8, 1898) was a banker, and one of the leading businessmen of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. He was one of Portland, Oregon's earliest residents, and served as that city's mayor in two ...
, as well as Portland Gas Light Company founders Herman C. Leonard and John Green, incorporated an iron smelting company which they named the Oregon Iron Company. Ladd, who served as president, and the others hoped to make Oswego the "
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
of the West", believing that having a local source of iron would help their other businesses, which included the
Oregon Central Railroad The Oregon Central Rail Road was the name of two railroad companies in the U.S. state of Oregon, each of which claimed federal land grants that had been assigned to the state in 1866 to assist in building a line from Portland south into California. ...
and the
Oregon Steam Navigation Company The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Washington because of a lack of corporate laws in ...
.


Construction

To oversee construction of a charcoal-fired
blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...
, the company recruited George Wilbur. He modeled his design on the Barnum and Richardson Company furnace in
Lime Rock, Connecticut Lime Rock is a village and historic district (listed as Lime Rock Historic District) in the town of Salisbury, Connecticut, United States, situated on the Salmon Kill. The village center and the historic district are substantially similar. The su ...
. The furnace was designed by British stonemason Richard Martin and was completed in 1867. Meanwhile, a dam was built on Sucker Creek to harness water for power, forests were cleared to be turned into charcoal to feed the furnace, and
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, used during iron smelting to remove impurities, was quarried from the
San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...
in
Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...
, and shipped and unloaded at the company docks on the adjacent
Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...
. On August 24, 1867, the Oregon Iron Company became the first company in the United States to smelt
pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate good used by the iron industry in the production of steel. It is developed by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with si ...
west of the Rocky Mountains. The first pigs were given to J. C. Trullinger, who owned the townsite of Oswego. From 1867 to 1869, the company smelted nearly of iron. Ladd's group soon found their business expertise in other areas did not apply as well to the iron industry. Their lack of experience, coupled with a dispute over water rights, caused the company to close in 1869. After a brief respite in which they filled an order for iron wheels for the
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete most of the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in North Americ ...
from 1874 to 1876, the company closed for good in 1878 and the assets were sold off at a sheriff's auction.


Oswego Iron Company

The purchasers were led by Ernest Crichton and L. B. Seeley, experienced furnace managers from Ohio's Hanging Rock iron region. Under the new name of the Oswego Iron Company, the company made a number of significant improvements: they purchased the Oswego townsite along with large tracts of forest, settled the water rights issue, remodeled the furnace, opened several new mines, constructed several homes for its workers, and built a
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
railroad for hauling the ore. From 1877 to 1881, the Oswego Iron Company produced of iron. However, to finance these improvements, the company also incurred massive debt, and with the market price for iron remaining low, the company was sold in 1880 to another group of Portland financiers led by
Simeon Gannett Reed Simeon Gannett Reed (April 23, 1830 – November 7, 1895) was an American businessman and entrepreneur in Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he made a fortune primarily in the transportation sector in association with William S. Ladd. Reedville ...
and railroad baron
Henry Villard Henry Villard (April 10, 1835 – November 12, 1900) was a German-American journalist and financier who was an influential leader and the sixth president of the Northern Pacific Railway (1881–1884) which completed its trans-continental route d ...
.


Oregon Iron and Steel Company

In 1882, the company was reincorporated as the Oregon Iron and Steel Company with Reed as its president and William M. Ladd, son of Oregon Iron Company founder William S. Ladd, as its vice president. With the elder Ladd, Villard, and
Darius Ogden Mills Darius Ogden Mills (September 25, 1825 – January 3, 1910) was a prominent American banker and philanthropist. For a time, he was California's wealthiest citizen. Early life Mills was born in North Salem, in Westchester County, New York, t ...
also providing financing, the company built a new smelter north of the original furnace with five times its capacity, . The new iron works opened in 1888, and production boomed. The company employed 300 men and Oswego's population soared, as hotels, churches, saloons, and an opera house were built to support the town. A railroad line to Portland was completed in 1886, making Oswego more accessible. The company reached its peak production in 1890, smelting of iron. However, half the company's resources were dedicated to making charcoal from wood. The availability of cheaper imported coke-fired iron, the overall reduction in demand for iron as railroad expansion slowed, and the economic effects of the
Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...
, all combined to hasten the final closure of the furnace in 1894. The company continued to operate a pipe foundry on the site of the new furnace until 1928. The
Willamette Meteorite The Willamette Meteorite, officially named WillametteMeteoritical Bulleti ...
was discovered on Oregon Iron & Steel property. An attempt was made to steal it. In 1917, the Pacific Coast Steel Company bought the furnace as a precautionary measure to insure a supply of pig iron during a present scarcity.


Land development

Despite its lack of industry, the company still found itself with thousands of acres of land that could be developed. William M. Ladd, who had succeeded Reed as President of Oregon Iron and Steel and his father as President of Ladd & Tilton Bank, formed the Ladd Estate Company to manage these real estate assets. The newly formed Ladd Estate Company converted the depressed company town into a prestigious suburb complete with country club, golf course, polo field, and even worked to rename the harsh-sounding Sucker Lake to
Oswego Lake Oswego Lake is in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, and is completely surrounded by the city of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Lake Oswego. Though the lake is naturally occurring (a former channel of the Tualatin River), it has been significantly al ...
. The company existed as a shell until 1960, when in its final act, it deeded its powerhouse and dams to lake shareholders.


Remnants of infrastructure

The original blast furnace still stands in Lake Oswego's George Rogers Park along the
Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...
, the only extant iron furnace west of the Rocky Mountains. It was placed 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 ...
in 1974. In 2010, a seven-year restoration of the furnace was completed. Of the two first pigs smelted in 1867, one is displayed in the
Oregon Historical Society The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is an organization that encourages and promotes the study and understanding of the history of the State of Oregon, within the broader context of U.S. history. Incorporated in 1898, the Society collects, pres ...
and one remains in place as a street marker at the northwest corner of Ladd and Durham streets in Lake Oswego. The
crucible A crucible is a container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. Although crucibles have historically tended to be made out of clay, they can be made from any material that withstands temperat ...
from the second furnace, which was dismantled and sold for scrap in 1926, is still intact in Lake Oswego's Roehr Park.


References

{{reflist 1865 establishments in Oregon 1960 disestablishments in Oregon Companies based in Lake Oswego, Oregon American companies established in 1865 Defunct manufacturing companies based in Oregon Ironworks and steel mills in the United States Steel companies of the United States