This is the conclusion of the 3-Part Series entitled: Beneath Our Feet from the February and April issues of New Milford Living.
Just imagine the thousands of hardworking souls, who for almost 10 generations carved out of the wilderness an industry which served as a backbone to our country’s development. This story of Connecticut’s contribution to the Industrial Revolution would be remiss without mentioning the enormous contribution made by one Milo Barnum, president of the Barnum and Richardson Company.
From humble beginnings in Lakeville, they produced window sash weights and farm equipment from pig iron, ultimately expanding their business to become the largest producers of iron and iron products in the country. They eventually opened operations and foundries in Chicago, IL, Rochester, NY, and Huntington, WV. Over time there would be 43 blast furnaces operating in the Salisbury iron district, with 21 of them being in Connecticut. Here in the northwest corner, Barnum’s company owned and operated 12 of these furnaces along with dozens of open mines. Production of iron ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week, nonstop. Barnum employed as many as 1,600 people to run the operation, most of which were Irish, Welsh, and Swiss immigrants direct from Ellis Island. At the height of production years, from 1870-1880, the Salisbury foundries manufactured 10,000 high-quality train wheels, each weighing 600lbs all without the assistance of power tools.
By 1881 their blast furnaces were producing 11 tons of iron every day. The copious amounts of charcoal and intense labor required to operate these furnaces is staggering. Each furnace required 10,000-12,000 bushels of charcoal weekly, which is the equivalent to 7 acres of prime hardwood, which had to be cut, stacked, and burned. This translates to better than 364 acres by years end. This operation would ultimately require some 3,500 plus acres of forest to be clear cut and turned into charcoal annually. What accelerated Milo Barnum’s business would be the building of the Housatonic Railroad. In order for the Barnum and Richardson Company to meet the demands of the Industrial Revolution, it was imperative that they be able to bring these iron implements to markets across the globe. Milo was one of the driving forces behind the construction of the Housatonic Railroad, which in 1840 connected New Milford to the same markets providing immense prosperity to all the river townships.
Historically high-grade Salisbury iron was in great demand due to its resistance to shock, which made it ideal in dozens of hardware implements, including musket barrels, cannons, cannon balls, ship anchors, and railroad wheels. Tons of pig and bar iron were shipped to other manufactures including Arsenals in Springfield and Harper’s Ferry. Here in Bridgeport, the Horatio Ames foundry forged the largest Civil War cannon weighing 8.5 tons, capable of firing a 125 pounds shell over 5 miles. In Hamden, CT, another Connecticut industrialist, Eli Whitney, would contract with the U.S. government to produce 10,000 muskets completed in 1809 by utilizing Salisbury Iron.
In recognition to this industries contribution to our nation, in 1946 the State of Connecticut purchased the Beckly Furnace in East Canaan, which would become the state’s only industrial monument. In 1978, this same site would be included in our National Registrar of historical places, followed by The Riga Ironworks in 1994. I would urge all Connecticut residents to make a family pilgrimage trip to visit all of these remarkable historic sites and enjoy our fascinating history.
