Long Pond Ironworks State Park

Long Pond Ironworks State Park is located in the community of Hewitt, in West Milford, New Jersey, United States. The park is known for its old stone walls, furnaces and other remnants of a once industrious ironworking community that now sits next to the swiftly flowing Wanaque River. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry and has an area of 145 acres.

Long Pond Ironworks Historic District

Long Pond Ironworks

The Old Country Store at Long Pond Iron Works
Nearest city West Milford, New Jersey
Coordinates 41°8′47″N 74°18′39″W / 41.14639°N 74.31083°W / 41.14639; -74.31083Coordinates: 41°8′47″N 74°18′39″W / 41.14639°N 74.31083°W / 41.14639; -74.31083
Area 145 acres (59 ha)
Built 1766
NRHP Reference # 74001189[1]
NJRHP # 2422[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP January 11, 1974
Designated NJRHP September 4, 1973

The ironworks were built in 1766 and were added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 11, 1974.

The Civil War Era Iron Furnace at Long Pond Iron Works

Long Pond Ironworks were founded in 1766 by Peter Hasenclever. Hasenclever brought 500 ironworkers and their families from Germany to build an ironworks "plantation". A dam at "Long Pond" (Greenwood Lake) provided the waterpower needed to operate a blast for the furnace and a large forge. The ironworks produced iron for the Continental Army, for the American forces in the War of 1812, and for the Union Army during the Civil War. Metalmaking stopped at the site in 1882 when the ironworks was bankrupted by newer facilities in Pittsburgh.[3]

Metalmaking stopped at the site in 1882 when the ironworks was bankrupted by newer facilities in Pittsburgh. The remnants of the ironmaking structures at the district date from the 18th and 19th centuries. There are furnaces, casting house ruins, charging areas, ice houses, water wheels and other structures. The area is currently undergoing restoration. The "Old Country Store" has been renovated and now houses the Long Pond Ironworks Museum. The original Village of Hewitt grew up around the 19th-century iron enterprise. This settlement included a church, a store/post office, schoolhouses, and dwellings and outbuildings for workers and managers.[4]

There are many structures in the vast area of Long Pond Ironworks. There are two main water wheels in fairly good conditions one water is fine the other one has been burnt by vandals. There is a big furnace named Lucy which exploded on natural causes, another furnace which will one day be fixed when the state gives money and two other minor furnaces you may find. There is an abandoned community which is still standing except for two buildings. There is also an abandoned turnpike you can take a tour on which you can find lots of slag ( the remaining rock from smelting iron ) and charcoal.

Monksville Reservoir

Plein air painters painting at Long Pond in Ringwood, NJ.

Known for its trophy size muskellunge, walleye, bass and trout, Monksville Reservoir, atop the defunct community of Monksville, New Jersey is used by anglers, sporting clubs and the US Sailing Association. Easily accessible from either the north or the south boat ramp, the area is open 24/7.

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Passaic County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. January 10, 2010. p. 19. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  3. ↑ http://www.longpondironworks.org/history.htm Accessed April 29, 2010.
  4. ↑ Rutsch, Edward S.; Morrell, Brian H. (1992). "An Industrial Archeological Survey of the Long Pond Ironworks, West Milford Township, Passaic County, New Jersey". IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology. 18 (1/2): 40–60. JSTOR 40968249.
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