Codorus Furnace
East Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Erected in 1765 by William Bennet. Operated by James Smith, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, during the Revolutionary War. It is the oldest remaining landmark of the iron industry in York County. The old Furnace, now restored, is 2.5 miles NE of here.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Built in 1765, Codorus Furnace was part of the charcoal-iron industry that turned Pennsylvania's forests and ore beds into a colonial and Revolutionary-era workshop. It was operated during the Revolution by James Smith, a York County lawyer who signed the Declaration of Independence. As the oldest surviving relic of York County's iron trade, the restored stack recalls an age when local furnaces cast the tools, stoves, and munitions of a new nation.
Why it matters
Furnaces like Codorus made Pennsylvania an early engine of American industry, and its tie to a Declaration signer links backcountry ironmaking to the founding of the republic.
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Related people
- · William Bennet
- · James Smith
Related events
- · American Revolution
Themes & tags
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