The Noble Brothers

Foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

was a large

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

manufacturer based in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States. Its products included

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

engines, furnaces,

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s, and

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s (notably

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

s) before, during and after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The remains of the facility can still be seen today.

History

The Noble Brothers Foundry was built by James Noble Sr. and his six sons (William, James Jr., Stephen, George, Samuel and John) around 1855 in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

. The brothers ordered a

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

around the same time. This massive lathe was brought by boat to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. From there it was transported by a river boat up the

Coosa River The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ac ...

to the first waterfall. Here the lathe was unpacked and hauled by horse and cart to the foundry at First and Broad Street. The foundry manufactured

steam boat A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels working on lakes, rivers, and in short-sea shipping. The ...

engines, furnaces, and

s. In 1857, the foundry produced the first locomotive for the Rome Railroad, making this the first locomotive to be manufactured below Richmond. In 1861 the production of the foundry took on another role. The Confederate Government ordered the foundry to produce cannons and other war materials. A rifle plant was built by the brothers, but burned down before production got started. Jefferson Davis exempted the brothers from battlefield fighting. He proclaimed "... the 6 Noble brothers are exempt from the fighting as we have plenty of men to fight but few that can make cannons." A Noble Brothers Foundry cannon that was made around 1861 is on display outdoors in

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago located west of the city on the DuPage River. As of the 2020 United State ...

. To see the cannon, head to Central Park off Benton Street any time of the year. Even though the foundry's production of cannon had been halted by the Confederate government due to an investigation into improper manufacture of weapons at the facility, they continued output of other war-related materials, especially locomotives, attracted the attention of the Union army and was a prime factor in the occupation of Rome by Sherman's troops in 1864. On their way out of town at the end of the occupation, Sherman's troops burned the foundry facility to the ground, and attempted to dismantle the lathe using sledgehammers, with little success. The hammers marks are still visible today and the fire caused minimum damage to the lathe. The massive machine stayed in production until the mid-1960s. The Noble Brothers played a major role in rebuilding Rome after the American Civil War. They played key roles in the production of Rome's Clock Tower.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2020 1855 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1864 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Foundries in the United States Industrial buildings and structures in Georgia (U.S. state) Former buildings and structures in Georgia (U.S. state)