What is the connection between Pennsylvania and the iron and steel industries?
Pennsylvania has been associated with iron and steel since the days of William Penn. In colonial times, small iron furnaces dotted the countryside in southeastern Pennsylvania because all of the ingredients needed to make cast iron were present: magnetite, limonite, and hematite iron ore, limestone to act as a flux in processing the ore, and wood that could be converted to charcoal, the fuel required for firing the iron furnaces. Some furnaces, located in especially favorable areas having abundant magnetite ore, grew to become the centers of small villages. Hopewell Furnace in Berks County and Cornwall Furnace in Lebanon County are two large operations that produced iron for many years and are now open to the public. Having a source of iron provided a way for the colonies to decrease their economic dependence on England. During the Revolutionary War, the iron masters played a more direct role in American independence as they turned their attention to the production of weapons for the C
