Cornwall Iron Furnace
West Cornwall Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Built in 1742 by Peter Grubb near an immensely rich ore deposit and acres of forest for making charcoal fuel. A self-sufficient community included the ironmaster's mansion and workers' houses. The furnace produced pig iron and cast goods, and cannons for the Revolutionary War. Sold in 1798 to entrepreneur Robert Coleman; operated until 1883. It survives fully intact a few miles east at Cornwall.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Founded in 1742 by Peter Grubb beside a rich vein of iron ore and vast charcoal-making forests, Cornwall Iron Furnace grew into a self-sufficient industrial village complete with an ironmaster's mansion and workers' homes. Its furnaces poured pig iron, cast goods, and cannon for the Revolutionary War before passing to Robert Coleman in 1798 and running until 1883. Remarkably, the works survive fully intact nearby — a rare window into early American ironmaking.
Why it matters
Cornwall preserves the world of the colonial and early-national iron plantation that armed the Revolution and helped launch American heavy industry, a story usually lost to demolition.
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Related people
- · Peter Grubb
- · Robert Coleman
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Revolutionary War Gun Factory
Hummelstown, PA · est. 2012
When British troops seized Philadelphia in 1777, Pennsylvania's revolutionary government fled westward and needed weapons for the fight. Near Hummelstown it set up its official state gun factory, working in secret from 1777 to 1779 to turn out muskets and rifles for the Continental Army. In an age when a single skilled gunsmith might finish only a few arms a month, the concentrated production here was a small but vital arsenal for a cause perpetually short of firepower.
Charming Forge
Womelsdorf, PA · est. 1947
Charming Forge rose in 1749 as part of the iron plantations that made colonial Pennsylvania an industrial powerhouse of the British Empire. It was once held by the flamboyant ironmaster and glassmaker Baron Henry William Stiegel and later run for a half-century by George Ege. During the Revolution, Hessian prisoners were put to work cutting a rock channel to supply the forge with water.
Mathias Roeser
Lancaster, PA · est. 2000
From 1740 to 1771 the gunsmith Mathias Roeser worked here in Lancaster, at the heart of colonial Pennsylvania's craft economy. His shop was central to the development of the Pennsylvania rifle, the long, accurate frontier firearm that became famous in American hands. Family members and his apprentice William Henry, Sr., went on to lead the trade and supply arms to the patriot cause during the Revolution.
Bailey's Printshop
Lancaster, PA · est. 1971
From 1773 to 1780, Francis Bailey ran a printing office on this Lancaster site, serving as official printer to both the Continental Congress and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In an age when the press was a weapon of revolution, his shop turned out patriot documents—including Thomas Paine's "Crisis No. 4," one of the essays meant to steel American resolve through the darkest stretch of the war. Bailey is also credited with being among the first to call George Washington "Father of His Country" in print.