Welcome to Hugh Moore Park! In addition to being a lovely place to visit, the park has a fascinating history that this series of caches will explore.
While the park is a nice place to escape the city and experience nature today, it wasn’t always the case. In the 19th century the island was an industrial hub. In fact, where you are now was the site of an iron furnace. It would have been an immensely dirty, noisy, and hot place to be. Constructed in 1872 by local capitalist Peter Uhler, the original ironworks consisted of a single 65’ by 16’ furnace. The furnace was sold to a partnership headed by Dr. Garret B. Linderman in 1874 and he renamed it the Lucy Furnace in honor of his wife Lucy Packer Linderman (the daughter of Asa Packer, the railroad tycoon and founder of Lehigh University). The furnace was later leased to the Thomas Iron Company and then later the Bethlehem Iron Company. Bethlehem Iron upgraded the facilities so that it was producing 25,000 tons of pig-iron annually but eventually dismantled the furnace in 1897. There are no above-ground remains of the furnace but you’ll still find slag (waste produced by iron-making) scattered all around this end of the park.
If the nearby Welcome Center is open, stop in to see exhibits on the industrial history of the Easton area. There is also a short video on the development of the Lehigh Canal.
Cache is placed with the permission of the City of Easton's park manager.