One of the most important iron producers in colonial Pennsylvania, Cornwall Furnace, (a charcoal iron furnace) operated under the ownership of the Grubb and Coleman families from 1742 until the furnace's closure in 1883.
The charcoal iron industry flourished in Pennsylvania mostly because the Commonwealth had an abundance of four critical resources– iron ore, limestone for flux, water for power, and forests that provided wood for fuel.
During the 1730s Grubb acquired thousands of acres of land, including the iron ore deposits of Cornwall Banks. On this land in 1742, Grubb constructed his first iron furnace, which he named after Cornwall, his father's home county in England.
When Grubb died in 1754, the furnace and ore banks went to his sons Curttis and Peter, Jr. On August 25, 1776, less than two months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Cornwall Furnace cast its first cannon; by January 1777 the furnace had cast two dozen cannons for Continental forces. During the Revolutionary War, Cornwall Furnace was an important manufacturer of cannon, shot, and salt pans (used to produce salt) for the patriot cause.
Today, the Cornwall Iron Furnace is an historic site and museum. It survives as the most fully intact and best preserved example of a nineteenth century American charcoal iron furnace.
DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, CORNWALL FURNACE WAS AN IMPORTANT MANUFACTURER OF WHAT ???????
CANNON..SHOT..AND SALT PANS = N 40 46.609 W 078 55.543
WAGONS..BARRELS..RIFLE BARRELS = N 40 47.675 W 078 55.222
CONGRATULATIONS TO schmuck&puttz FOR THE FTF