Scenic Hudson's 87-acre site of the former West Point Foundry in the Village of Cold Spring lies in the heart of the majestic Hudson Highlands and opposite West Point Military Academy, 55 miles upriver from Manhattan. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the site is an important confluence of historic, archaeological and ecological resources. Scenic Hudson's goal is to protect and interpret these aspects, link them with other Foundry-era facilities in Cold Spring, and make them accessible to the public.
The West Point Foundry, which operated from 1817 until 1911, was one of the most innovative and productive industrial facilities in the nation at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The Foundry's ruins are of unquestionable historic significance (see History of West Point Foundry).
To interpret the history of the foundry to the public and to make sound stewardship and management decisions, Scenic Hudson is working with the Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum (PCHS&FSM), Michigan Technological University and other organizations and government agencies.
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In 2001, Scenic Hudson sponsored Michigan Tech's work to develop a comprehensive archaeological and historical study of the entire site. Michigan Tech's industrial archaeology program is unique in the United States and is one of only a few in the world. |
In preparation for fieldwork, Michigan Tech prepared a comprehensive bibliography of documentary sources in 2001. The following summer, fieldwork began resulting in an electronic base map that combines site features and historical maps from PCHS&FSM. In 2003, the team is locating and mapping buried archaeological features on the site using highly sophisticated laser survey equipment, ground-penetrating radar and traditional methods of drawing and digging.
History of West Point Foundry
West Point Foundry was one of America's most productive early ironworks. The foundry's industrial might and its reputation for inventiveness was great, and recent commentators have noted that it was, in many ways, "the Silicon Valley of its day."
Shortly after the War of 1812, President James Madison recognized that heavy artillery was key to modern warfare, and that America's security depended upon a steady and reliable supply of ordnance. He set out to find four sites for the establishment of foundries to supply guns and munitions. Cold Spring provided an ideal site: It was close to sources of iron ore; the abundant hardwood forests could supply charcoal; Margaret's Brook (later named Furnace Brook and then Foundry Brook), supplied water power to drive the furnace's bellows; its finished goods could be transported on the Hudson River; and the site was well-protected by the looming presence of West Point across the River.
Prominent local citizen Gouverneur Kemble incorporated the West Point Foundry Association, and with $100,000 in capital raised from investors, began an enterprise that over the course of the next century would define not only the growth and character of Cold Spring, but also the industrial might of a prospering nation.
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The foundry was one of the first companies to develop the principle of vertical integration - controlling all facets of activity that produces revenue including acquisition of the natural resources, processing, manufacturing, sales and distribution. |
The foundry proved its strength at military production during the Civil War when West Point-trained engineer Robert Parrott developed, manufactured and mass-produced a rifled cannon (known thereafter as the Parrott Gun). Providing greater distance and accuracy, the cannon is credited with providing the Union Army and Navy with the military advantage necessary to emerge triumphant at the war's end. During Parrott's tenure from 1837 to 1867, the foundry was most productive, and by the end of the Civil War had produced nearly two thousand cannons and in excess of three million shells.
But military ordnance was not all that the foundry produced. The factory won contracts to produce steam engines, as well as the first iron ship made in the nation: the cutter Spencer. The engine for the first American locomotive, the Best Friend, was cast at the foundry, as were the locomotives DeWitt Clinton, West Point, Phoenix and the record setting Experiment, which in 1832 was capable of an astonishing 80 miles per hour.
The foundry also produced miles of cast-iron piping for the New York City water system, sugar mills for export to the West Indies and components for use in cast-iron furniture and architecture, some of which still can be seen in lower Manhattan neighborhoods of New York City. At its peak, the foundry employed over one thousand workers and had the capacity to produce ten thousand tons of cast iron per year.
At the end of the Civil War the foundry declined because of the reduction of orders from the military and competition from the developing steel industry. In 1897 the foundry was purchased by the Cornell brothers, who produced machines for sugar production. The foundry closed in 1911. |
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Related Links
Michigan Technological University Industrial Archaeology Program
Michigan Technological University Field School
Society for Industrial Archeology
Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum |
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| All photos were taken by Larry Mishkar, Michigan Tech, 2002. |
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